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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ruby" data-source="post: 1165899" data-attributes="member: 3679">Hi Paul,This rings a bell from myself a few years back....Wouldn't it be great if you could just listen to a CD x times and then you would know them all - unfortunately it doesn't seem to work like that...and my theory is that, without there being any context in which to place a given call or song, they all just merge into one amorphous mass.What helped me a good deal was just learning the most common ones in any given habitat and then working up from there.... so you walk through a wood and are soon able to say to yourself -"Robin"... "Blackbird"..... "Blue Tit" etc until you hear one that you don't recognise. Track it down, and then you've got one more to add to your list.Taking it one step at a time and gradually building up your known list will at least enable you to retain what you learn.Surprisingly, it doesn't actually take that long to get to grips with the vast majority of call/songs that you are likely to hear in your own environment - of course, it all quickly goes pear-shaped if you go travelling!!Your idea of finding it easier if you can actually see the bird singing works for me too... I own the excellent "Birds of Britain and Europe" DVD set from Paul Docherty, which I would thoroughly recommend.Goos luck....   Ray</blockquote>