Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #birdsong, aggregated by home.social.
My latest painting is finished: 'Bird Songs'. 17 well-loved songs. 20 birds. One #painting combining my love of #birds & #music.
Sing along if you know the words! I hope you like it. Thanks for looking.🙏
If you want to know who all the birds are and what the song is, there's info here: https://janetomlinson.com/products/bird-songs-painting
Call and wing-shuffle of the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes are often called Shufflewings, because of their odd habit of flipping their wings up and down each time they land. When I was out walking the other day, I followed their call to see three of these birds in a tree, shuffling their wings energetically as they hopped from branch to branch. This video focuses on one of the birds:
Common name: Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, also called a Shufflewing
Scientific name: Coracina novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 30 September 2026 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’54.8″S 151°15’04.2″E
Here’s a still photo of a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, from an earlier post in December 2023:
#australia #birdCalls #birds #birdsong #birdwatching #BlackFacedCuckooShrike #SydneyBirds
🐦 NEW: Biologists measured call amplitude in 123 bird species across #Massachusetts and #Brazil using #golf rangefinders paired with #sound meters, adding first-time #data for 113 of them.
Volumes spanned 58 dB, from #hummingbirds near conversational levels to the bare-throated #bellbird and red-legged #seriema above 120 dB. The louder #species tend to be larger with wider beaks.
👉 https://www.popsci.com/environment/worlds-loudest-birds/
#birds #biology #ornithology #birdsong #bioacoustics #decibels #evolution #fieldwork #research #science #education #nature #wildlife #animals
🐦 NEW: #DNA evidence traces all 4,000 songbird species back to #Australia and the ancient supercontinent #Gondwana.
#Songbirds are among the few #animals, alongside #parrots, #hummingbirds, and #humans, that learn their #songs from parents and peers rather than instinct. Researchers say just six minutes of birdsong can improve well-being and lower heart rates.
👉 https://phys.org/news/2026-09-joy-song-songbirds.html
#birds #birdsong #evolution #nature #ornithology #science #birding #birdwatching #wildlife #research #sound
#ShortBreak #shorts #DoomScrollBreak #nature #birds #song #birdsong #music #metal #heavymetal
songbirds are metal af 😂
(okay, enough internet for today 😬)
Not so #SilentSunday: (sound up) 🎶🐦🐦🐦
Hundreds of noisy little birds! Deep inside this hedge..
Anyone here who uses surveillance cameras to capture sound for #BirdNet ?
I've been looking for outdoor microphones and ways to protect microphones from rain but if solar powered wifi surveillance cameras work, that would probably solve all weather related problems.
Any thoughts?
Call of the Singing Honeyeater
I spotted this Singing Honeyeater at Bendleby Ranges in the Flinders Ranges area of South Australia. It’s only my second sighting of a Singing Honeyeater, and the first time I managed to record its call. I believe that these birds make a variety of sounds, of which I’ve captured only one.
Singing Honeyeaters are found across most of Australia, except the eastern and northern coastal regions. This means that I don’t see them very often, as I live on the east coast.
Here’s a photo of the bird:
Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. If you’d like to see a better one, check out my first sighting of a Singing Honeyeater.
Common name: Singing Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichenostomus virescens
Approximate length: 18-22 cm
Date spotted: 10 September 2026 (spring)
Location: Bendleby Ranges in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia: 32°21’13.7″S 138°47’34.8″E
Do birds have accents? the regional differences in birdsong
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49775579
#HackerNews #birds #accents #birdsong #wildlife #nature #science
Still working through the Bandcamp trove. Today, something gentle from Slovenia. With #birdsong. #music
https://tworoundrobins.bandcamp.com/album/as-above-so-below
Testing an upload of bird sounds from my backyard recorded with identity using Merlin Bird ID. The sparrow might be passing through. The rest are year-round. The wren and the nuthatch are competing for the crown.
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Anna's Hummingbird
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
White-crowned Sparrow
#wildflowerhour
Woundwort being serenaded by a Robin, just before dusk here this evening, on World Bee Sanctuary.
#wildflowers
#nature
#birdsong
The Smart Bird Feeders Everyone’s Talking About (and Actually Buying) (2026)
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/best-smart-bird-feeders/
🐶 NEW: Five #bushdog pups born at #England’s #Chester #Zoo recently emerged from their den as part of a European breeding program safeguarding the near-threatened species.
Keepers note their chirping vocalizations resemble #birdsong. Head of #mammals Mark Brayshaw explains that #climatechange, #habitat loss, and #disease transfer increasingly threaten wild populations, and that by the time a species is #endangered it often faces a genetic bottleneck.
👉 https://www.popsci.com/environment/bush-dog-puppies-sound-like-birds/
#chesterzoo #conservation #cute #animals #wildlife #southamerica #puppies #animalbehavior #endangeredspecies #vocalization #nature #science #birds #europe
→ Birdsong follows a fundamental law of human language
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/birdsong-follows-a-fundamental-law-of-human-language/
“Zipf’s law states that a handful of words—or, in this case, chirps, whistles and trills—occur frequently, while most are rare. Specifically, the most common word (“the,” in English) appears roughly twice as often as the second-most common (“of”), three times as often as the third most common (“and”), and so on.”
Hey, I sound like a cat, so can I join in the #Caturday fun? ~ Gray Catbird (immature)
#birds #birding #birdsong #nature #NaturePhotography #SolaceInNature
I have started on a new #painting which neatly combines my love of #birds, #music & #typography. It will feature 20 birds illustrated with a lyric from 17 well-loved #songs. Here are my first two:
Pic 1 Cuckoo - “Summer is a-coming in”
Pic 2 Mockingbird - “Hush little baby”
It will, of course, be called ‘Bird Songs’. Painting this is going to be fun, fun, fun!
"The Seán Chorus, hosted by Cork-born ornithologist and wildlife sound recordist Seán Ronayne, immerses listeners in the sounds of the natural world. Following a five-year mission to record every bird species in Ireland, Seán has amassed a vast archive of over 40,000 recordings!"
https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/the-sean-chorus/
#SolarPunkSunday #TheSeánChorus #Ornithology #WildLife #Nature #SoundRecordings #SeánRonayne #Birds #Ireland #BirdSong
"Mood-boosting benefits of birdsong drowned out by traffic noise, study finds"
#Birds #BirdSong #Animals
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/26/mood-boosting-benefits-of-birdsong-drowned-out-by-traffic-noise-study-finds
We have a bird we’ve been referring to as the Doctor Who bird, because the first four or five notes sound like one of the theme songs (not the famous opening theme, the “the Doctor has just grabbed his companion’s hand to begin the wacky plan to save humanity yet again in an unlikely but exciting fashion” theme).
But we borrowed a friend’s bird call detector and we’re going to have to rename it the Ghost bird. First it disappeared for winter. It returned last week, and despite singing *right next to the detector* on *multiple occasions*, the detector picks up *nothing*. Not a call it can’t identify, literally nothing.
7 Birds
The pair of blue jays let me know each dawn when they want their unshelled peanuts, my voice gilded and held in their throats when I finally speak up and answer their call.
Cute little visitor tapping on the window #birdsong all began in #australia - true story - DNA 🧬 testing and science - amazing to think about - when the August winds arrive on the #eastcoast the little #fairy #wrens red, blue and other small and large #birds are everywhere
A Glorious Sunrise Yesterday on Fifth Street. #nature #naturestudy #naturestudies #naturesbeauty #naturalbeauty #beautyofnature #sky #skywatch #skywatcher #skywatchers #pinksunrise #sunrise #purplesunrise #beautifulsunrise #beautifulnature #skywatching #theheavens #cloud #clouds #smalltown #pennsylvania #eastcoast #fifthstreet #lewistown #mifflincounty #bird #birds #birdsong #birdswaking #birdswakingup
Perhaps we aren't so special after all.
**Birdsong shows patterns similar to human language, according to a new study.** 🤔
#birdsong #languageModels
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/07/birdsong-similar-human-language-study/
#Birdsong and #WhaleSong show patterns similar to #HumanLanguage
by University of Edinburgh
edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan
"An international team of researchers has uncovered a previously undetected structure in the birdsong of #BengaleseFinches that has the same statistical patterns found in human languages.
"The songbirds—famous for their complex, learned songs—organize their songs using the same mathematical formula found in human speech, a trait that has developed over time and makes complex communication easier to learn and pass from one generation to the next.
"The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, build on the team's previous discovery that #HumpbackWhales also rely on a similar systematic structure.
Language has long been considered a uniquely human trait, with features that mark it as distinct from the communication of all other species.
The findings suggest that some of language's most fundamental building blocks may not be uniquely human after all, but rather a universal feature of learned communication, the researchers say."
Read more:
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-birdsong-whale-song-patterns-similar.html
#Nature #Communication #BirdLanguage #WhaleLanguage #LanguagePatterns #Linguistics #Zoology
The frequencies of words in human languages follow a Zipfian distribution, which seems to aid language learning. Analysis of the songs of Bengalese finches has identified coherent units analogous to words or syllables that also follow a Zipfian distribution, implying cultural transmission of songs.
The secrets of birdsong, organised by eight ‘elementary’ motifs.
Drawing on more than 100 000 recordings, researchers have identified the eight basic motifs, including trills and whistles, that songbirds use to compose their tunes.
Scientists find building blocks of #birdsong's 'spectacular #diversity'
Victoria Gill, July 23, 2026
Excerpt: "This link between the environment and its #NaturalSoundscape, Bacquelé explained, is being transformed by #HumanActivity.
" 'I think this research has opened up a new way to see songs as something [intrinsically] linked with the environment,' he told BBC News.
" 'So, we could try to use these motifs to help us understand how birds could adapt to the new #BackgroundNoise [that we produce].'
"#NaturalSound, Bacquelé added, is an an important part of our own connection to #nature and is worth conserving.
" 'If you think of a #forest, near your town or near your house, you think about the songs of the birds in the morning when you go outside.
" 'And if a bird in a #forest has a specific song, if you destroy the forest, then that song may not be adapted any more to the new environment.' "
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4eg5dpyzo
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eGDPy
#SolarPunkSunday #PreserveNature #Birdsongs #NoisePollution #BioDiversity #ProtectNature #ProtectTheForest
23-Jul-2026
Scientists uncover the building blocks of #passerine #birdsong
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1136800
#science #birds #songbirds
Three adorable little birds:
The first is a male Eurasian chaffinch, a common songbird in the finch family, recognized by its vibrant plumage.
They are known for their powerful songs, which males use to attract mates and establish territory.
The second is a European robin, a small bird known for its iconic bright orange-red breast. Despite their friendly appearance, these birds are highly territorial, particularly during the winter months.
They are found across Europe, North Africa, and as far east as Western Siberia.
The third is a Palm warbler, characterized by a bright yellow throat and a distinct rusty-red cap on its head. Palm warblers are frequently observed wagging their tails up and down while on the ground.
