Birding by Ear

How to Identify Birds

Without Using
Your Eyes
There is a lot more to bird watching than
just watching.
When you rely solely on your eyes while birding, you pass over tiny kinglets and creepers and re-
clusive wrens and towhees. With your ears “turned on,” you can hear so many more birds chip-
ping, buzzing, trilling, and singing. Most birds, especially in a woodland setting, are heard before
they’re seen. If you’re not engaging your auditory sense, you may be missing more than half the
birds around you!

You don’t need to be an avid birder to notice that birds make a wide variety of sounds. Some of
these sounds are gentle and pleasant, like the beautiful phrasing of a newly arrived wood thrush
in spring. Other sounds can be jarring and annoying—at least to a nonbirder—such as a north-
ern mockingbird’s mechanical imitations on a summer night.

But why do they do it? Birds are not singing and squawking for our enjoyment (or annoyance).
Songbirds vocalize to communicate. Their sounds can be divided into two main categories:
songs and calls.

A bird’s song is the more musical, complicated sound. In most species only the male sings, and
he’s singing for two primary reasons: to attract a female and to warn other males to keep off
his turf. Birdsong is related directly to courtship, breeding, and territoriality; this is why we hear
birds singing in spring and summer, and not so much in fall and winter. Some species will sing
from a hidden place in a thicket, but most male birds seek a prominent perch from which to
proclaim their songs. Some males sing around the clock during breeding season. It’s those spring
hormones that are mostly to blame for your neighborhood mockingbird’s nocturnal concerts.

A bird’s call is usually a short chip, whistle, trill, twitter, or chirp. This is how birds communi-
cate in an everyday sense. Males and females, adults and immature birds call throughout the year.
Birds use calls to keep contact among the members of a flock or family group, to warn off pred-
ators, to signal food, and in a variety of other ways.

Compared with songs, bird calls can be somewhat harder to learn, as calls are less musical,
shorter, and generally less memorable than songs. But mastering bird calls is possible, and, with
practice, can greatly enhance your ability to find and identify birds.

Some bird species rely on non-vocal sounds to communicate their courtship and territorial
messages. Examples of non-vocal bird sounds include woodcocks and mourning doves with whis-
tling wings, and woodpeckers drumming on hollow trees.

To recap:

Songs attract mates or defend territory

Calls may be chip notes, or scolding, or chatter, or mobbing
Non-vocal sounds include the wing whirs of mourning doves or hummingbirds, or the
booming of grouse on leks

Learning to listen to birds takes patience and practice. It may seem an impossible task, but it’s
not as difficult as you might think. In fact, you likely already know several bird vocalizations:
American robin, mourning dove, northern cardinal, American crow, mallard, Canada goose, kill-
deer, and wild turkey, just to name a few. The key to mastering birdsong identification is to start
with the birds you already know—the species most commonly heard in your backyard or neigh-
borhood—and then slowly add new songs and calls to your vocabulary.
CDs, apps, or websites with recordings of birds are helpful and useful, but these do not sub-
stitute for the real birds outside your window. Make a point of watching a bird as it sings—the
audio-visual connection will stick in your mind. Some people use mnemonics to help them re-
member specific songs. The eastern towhee’s “Drink your TEA!” or the barred owl’s “Who cooks
for you all?” are common examples.

Over time, with practice, you will recognize bird vocalizations nearly subconsciously, as you
would recognize a familiar singer’s voice on the radio or a family member’s laugh in the other
room. Soon you will step outside and know those sweet, musical phrases as robins singing, those
squealing keeyah keeyahs as courting red-shouldered hawks, those potato-chip twitters as gold-
finches passing overheard, and that bright, clear whistle as a newly arrived Baltimore oriole.

As many a birder can attest, a whole new world opens up when we become aware of the in-
credible diversity of birdlife that shares our space. We hope this guide will get you well on your
way to identifying birds solely by sound.

Prothonotary warbler
zweet zweet zweet

Remember: A vocalizing bird is telling you

what it is as well as where it is.
Always listen for bird sounds, even if you can’t identify every chip note or other sound. Think
about how to describe what you hear.

How to learn: Practice makes perfect!

Practice in the field: Make audio-visual connections and, if possible, take an expert with you
Practice at home: Watch videos and listen to recordings
Practice committing songs to memory: Do whatever helps you remember; take notes of what
you hear
Practice learning mnemonics: Sometimes there are words to describe bird sounds, like cheep,
tweet, twitter, hiss, and squawk
Practice by focusing on a familiar species: Pick one you are likely to hear a lot, then study it until
you know every nuance
Let’s make a vocabulary
Rhythm: Pattern, tempo, trill
Pitch: High, low, mid-range, ascending then descending
Tone: Squawk, whistle, musical, scratchy, rough, flutelike
Parts: Three-part song, repeated song, or something else?
Complexity: Is it super-simple or really complex?
Speed: Rapid, slow, partly trilled, simple trending to complex, slow then fast

Black-throated green warbler

zee zee zee zee zo zee

Descriptive Examples
Trilling: chipping sparrow
Staccato: hairy woodpecker
Buzzy: scarlet tanager or blue-winged warbler
Operatic: rose-breasted grosbeak or Baltimore
Flutelike: wood thrush oriole

Whistled: northern bobwhite Insect-like: grasshopper sparrow

Monotonous: prothonotary warbler Repeated: brown thrasher

Sing-song: American robin Fast: house wren

Ascending: prairie warbler Slow: yellow-throated vireo

Descending: yellow-throated warbler Complex: bobolink

Crescendo (gets louder): ovenbird Simple: tufted titmouse

Two-toned or three toned: black-capped Emphatic: Acadian flycatcher

chickadee,
High-pitched: Blackburnian warbler
Two distinct parts: Nashville warbler (Tennesee
warbler has three parts) Low-pitched: common raven
 American robin
cheer-up cheer-a-lee cheer-ee-o

Popular Mnemonics
Acadian Flycatcher Blue Jay
peet-seet or peet-suh or peet fee-der-de-lurp
jay-jay-jay
American Goldfinch queedle-queedle-queedle
pa-chip-chip-chip per-chick-a-ree
po-ta-to-chip (and dip when in flight) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
zpeee (a bit raspy)
American Redstart
tzee-tzee-tzee-tzeeeo Blue-winged Warbler
beee-bzzz; blue winged! (second syllable buzzy)
American Robin
cheer-up; cheer-a-lee; cheer-ee-o, whinny Brown Thrasher
varied mocker-like phrases (repeated 2x)
Baltimore Oriole drop-it; drop-it; cover-it-up;
flute-like; disjointed series of notes cover-it-up; pull-it-up; pull-it-up
here; here; come right here; dear
Brown-headed Cowbird
Barred Owl bubble-bubble-zeeee!
who-cooks-for-you; who-cooks-for-you-all
Carolina Wren
Black-throated Blue Warbler brrrrrrr (a brief; downslurred; rapid trill like thumbing
I am so lazzzy comb tines)
Please please please squeeze chooble-dee (varied triplet phrases)
tea-kettle; tea-kettle; tea-kettle
Black & White Warbler
wee-zee; wee-zee; wee-zee (like a squeaky wheel) Cedar Waxwing
zeee-zeee-zeee (rapid, high-pitched trill, always in flocks)
Cerulean Warbler Hooded Warbler
chyoo-chyoo-chyoo-tseee (last syllable burry) weeta-weeta-weet-tee-o
trill (ending with buzzy) beeee
Indigo Bunting
Chipping Sparrow varied phrases (in couplets)
chipping trill (mechanical) fire; fire; where? where? here; here; see it? see it?

Common Yellowthroat Kentucky Warbler

witchety-witchety-witchety (slow) p’chee; p’chee; p’chee
tchep (flat and raspy)
Louisiana Waterthrush
Downy Woodpecker chip
peeek (sharply) whinny tree; tree; tree terwitter-witter wit

Eastern Phoebe Northern Cardinal

fee-beee (last syllable raspy) cheer-cheer-cheer-purty-purty-purty

Eastern Towhee Northern Flicker

too-wheee! drink-your-teeeee! kleeeyer
hot dog; pickle-ickle-ickle wik-wik-wik
cherwink squeechu-squeechu-squeechu
flicker flicker flicker!
Eastern Wood Pewee
pee-a-weee and pee-yer Northern Mockingbird
varied phrases (repeated thrice or more)
Field Sparrow
a ping-pong ball dropped onto a table Northern Parula Warbler
increasing in rate trill! (fast rising; ending with)-tsyoo
zeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(buzzy)-chyoo
Hairy Woodpecker
pik (flat) whinny

Black-throated blue warbler

I am so lazzzy
Ovenbird
p’cheer - p’cheer - p’cheer
teacher teacher teacher!
Prairie Warbler
zee-zee-zee-zee (steady rise in pitch)
Prothonotary Warbler
zweet; zweet; zweet (single pitch)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
churrr; churrr (throaty; deeply trilled)
Red-eyed Vireo
where are you? and here I am
Red-headed Woodpecker
squeer; squeer (raspy)
Red-shouldered Hawk
kee-yer; kee-yer; kee-yer
Red-tailed Hawk
keeeeeeeeer
Red-winged Blackbird
chortle-deeeeee
conk-a-reeeeeeeee
tseer; tseer
Scarlet Tanager
cheer-up; cheer-a-lee; cheer-ee-o (burry; raspy)
chick-burrr (last syllable rapidly trilled)
hurry; worry; blurry; flurry (burry)
Song Sparrow
Maids-maids-maids-put-on-your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle
Hip; hip; hip hurrah boys; spring is here!
Madge; Madge; Madge pick beetles off; the water’s hot
Starling
wolf-whistle (breathy)
Summer Tanager
cheer-up; cheer-a-lee (bouncy, musical)
piky-tucky-tuck or pik-a-tuck
Red-winged blackbird
conk-a-reeeeeeeee
(A female red-winged blackbird
appears on this e-book’s cover.)
Song sparrow
Maids-maids-maids-put-on-
your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle

Tufted Titmouse Worm-eating Warbler

cheeva; cheeva; cheeva fer-da; fer-da; fer-da trill (very rapid, even, mechanical)
here; here; here peter-peter-peter
Yellow Warbler
Warbling Vireo sweet; sweet; sweet; little-more-sweet
If I sees you I will seize you and I’ll squeeze you till you
squirt (to a caterpillar) Yellow-billed Cuckoo
brigadier; brigadier; briga-tee hoo-luh; hoo-luh; hoo-luh (1/sec; broken)
ka-ka-ka kowp-kowp-kowp
White-breasted Nuthatch
anh-anh-anh-anh (nasally) Yellow-breasted Chat
tooy-tooy-tooy-tooy whoit (whistled)
wee-wee-wee-wee-who-who-who-who wit; wit; wit or chak; chak; chak

White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo

chick; per-wee-tee-o; chick or chick-per-wee-o three-Ay; three-Ay
Quick give me a rain check
Chick Corea Chick Yellow-throated Warbler
tsyoo-tsyoo-tsyoo-tsyoo -tswee
Wood Thrush
chk-chk-chk (dry-subtle)
ra-vi-o-li (flute-like)
ee-oh-lay (flute-like, last note trilly)
oo-duh-lay-oh or oodle-drrrr (last note trilly)
fweet-fweet-fweet (rapid-fire)
 Yellow warbler
sweet sweet sweet little-
more-sweet

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