It's at this time of the year when birds suddenly burst into song, and our gardens, hedges and woods are filled with their beautiful and varied calls. Whilst listening to the birds can be a great experience in itself, it is also a key way of identifying and recording species. When they're all singing at once this can be somewhat of a challenge, especially if like me, you are not very well versed in your bird songs. In this article, I will not highlight how to identify particular species, but rather try to highlight some tips that have helped me improve on my bird song identification.
The sheer volume of species, songs and calls can be a very daunting prospect, so the best place to start is with one species. Depending on your local area, current experience and level of confidence this could really be anything, but you want to ensure that it is a species that you are guaranteed to hear. It might be a common garden bird, like Blackbirds, Robins, or Chaffinches, or a hedge or woodland based songbird like Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, or Willow Warblers. If you go out anywhere in Dumfries and Galloway you have a good chance of hearing all of these birds, and so they can be an excellent first species to practice on. And if it so happens to be raining on the day you want to practice, sound clips of bird calls can be found very easily online and so are a great resource to practice with. I have included some of these below, so definitely check out the website if you're looking for a place to start.
One great way to pick-up bird calls quickly is by giving them an easily recognizable phrase that you can almost hear in the noise they make, a mnemonic. Of course, very few birds speak in English, but sometimes they sound very similar, and you can almost hear them trying to make these phrases. The one I've known since very little, it's the Great Tit call "teacher-teacher". Other examples include the Chiffchaff's namesake call "chiff-chaff", and the hungry Yellowhammers "a little bit of bread and no cheese". There are many such mnemonics, so look in your bird guide for what species have them, or even make up your own ones once you have a good grasp on what the call sounds like!
Some species are particularly helpful in that they have truly unique cries that are distinct and easy to pick out, especially given their preferred habitat. Around the Wig, Eiders are a great example of this, with their deep "ooh-e" cooing sounds that can be heard across great distances. Another distinctive call you might hear coming from the water is the high pitch eerie "aooooh-wee" of the Great-northern Diver, which would not sound out of place in a horror film. Elsewhere you can hear the loud screaming "kya-kya" of a Jay, or perhaps the iconic "cu-koo" of the Cuckoo itself. Whilst a lot of these species can be hard to find, or may only be around at certain times of the year, knowing these characteristic calls will help you pick them out when you do hear them.
Learning bird songs from scratch is an intimidating prospect, but like most tasks, it will come easily with practice. You might be surprised to find that you already know many calls. Whilst you might not instinctively know what species they belong to, I bet nearly anyone will recognize a Herring Gull's cry or a Blackbird's song. From there the library of cries is immense and more varied than the species that make them. As challenges go, however, it is certainly pleasant on the ears, and every species learned is an experience you can enjoy each time you hear them after.
I hope in this article I have provided some pointers on how to start learning bird calls and maybe instilled some motivation to get out there and try it for yourselves. This is by no means an exact science, as I am pretty new to this myself and so this is my approach to it. However, I think they are certainly a good starting point for you to work from and let you build your confidence off of. If you are unfamiliar with bird calls then I hope this will encourage you to go out and try learning them, or at least to stop and listen to the beautiful chorus that birds can provide.
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