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Today's Show: Spring Brings New Bird Songs
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Birdwatching

For Birdwatchers, Birders, and Wannabes
Woman using binoculars to birdwatch at an estuary
© Tim Regan

Whether you’re a longtime birder or just getting started, there’s always more to learn. Here are a few articles you might find interesting:

  • Birding by ear -- Learn how to identify birds by their songs and calls
  • Where to go birdwatching near you
  • Where to go birding while traveling
  • Understand the principles of birding ethics, from the American Birding Association
  • What color(s) to wear while birding? Here's the answer

These BirdNote stories and blogs can give you more ideas:

Image: Rufous Hummingbird Puffball

How to Get Started

  • Birdwatching 101 – Habitat, Where to Look
  • Birdwatching 102 - Watching Birds’ Behavior
  • Birdwatching 103 - Tracking the Seasons
  • Birdwatching 104 – A Summary
  • Advice to Beginning Birders from David Sibley

What to Listen For

  • Bird Sound Types and Qualities, Part 1
  • Bird Sound Types and Qualities, Part 3
  • Bird Song ID

How to Identify Birds

  • Crow or Raven - Who’s Who?
  • How to Tell a Crow from a Raven
  • Little Brown Birds
  • Gull Identification, Part 1
  • Gull Identification, Part 2
  • Identifying Birds in Flight
  • Using the Merlin Bird ID app

Online Audio Resources

  • The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, at Cornell University
  • Xeno-Canto, a worldwide community database of shared bird sounds
  • Western Soundscape Archive, a repository of ambient, bird, and animal sounds from the western U.S.
  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers lots of resources
  • Start Identifying Birds by Their Songs and Calls- from Audubon

Articles/Stories about Bird Song

  • Understanding Birdsong Donald Kroodsma and Terry Gross, From *Fresh Air*
  • The Music of Wild Birds (NPR)
  • The Bird Singer and His Travel Log (NPR)
  • Birding by Ear Basics, How to Identify Birds by Sound, by Melissa Mayntz

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

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