Bird calls, songs and Dawn Choruses

Bird Calls, Songs and Dawn Choruses

Bird calls, songs and dawn choruses provide music in the environment. Birds use a wide variety of sounds to communicate. Birds may make different sounds depending on the occasion. I am not musical but I like to listen to the Cardinal sing its aria. I listen to it the way a classical music buff listens to a finely composed symphony.

Birds have a special organ unique to they to produce their complex sounds. The organ that produces sound is called the syrinx. The syrinx is made from tissue of the tracheal, bronchi or both, depending on the species. The syrinx consists of two independent halves. It is located in the body cavity. These vibrating membranes can produce two different songs at once. This allows some birds to sing duets with itself. Rapid beak and throat movements in songbirds also help to produce sounds.

Birds can make a variety of whistles, warbles, squeaks, trills, chirps, and buzzes.

Bird Calls

Bird calls are vocalizations. They are made by either sex. They are the sounds that are made from birth. Much like gurgles and buzzing sounds a human baby makes. Calls are generally short, and simple. They are not as complex as songs. But, in some species, calls have to be learned. Many species have simple songs made up of the same repeated tune. Other birds, have wide repertoire of calls. They have alarm calls, nest calls, warning calls, and flock calls among many others.

Bird Songs

Songs are long and more complex and varied than bird calls. Being more complex, they have to be learned. Songbirds are well-known for their singing ability.

It depend on the species as to who sings. In Northern Europe and North American, it is most often the male who sings.

Birds sing according to the season. Spring is generally a time of much bird song. It coincides with the staking out of territory and attracting a mate. Apparently, bird calls and sounds play a role in accomplishing this task. I often see a male Cardinal perched at the very tip top of a tree, belting out a song. I always assumed he was letting everyone know, just whose territory it is.

Dawn Choruses

It starts in early dawn when it is still dark. We hear one or two birds singing in the dim light. As it grows lighter, more and more birds join in. Until it is a symphony of different voices and songs. This beautiful event is know as the Dawn Chorus.

The Dawn Chorus lasts for about half an hour. It starts earlier on moonlight nights when it is lighter outside. The symphony starts later if it is darker outside due to cloud cover. Why birds sing so heartily at dawn is a mystery. We could be poetic and say they sing to greet the dawn or announce that they have made it through the night with out being a meal for an owl. But, we would just be guessing because we really don't know. Many species have a dawn chorus song. There may also be a smaller dusk chorus among some species.

Birds fly and sing. They make they world we share a lively and wonderful place. We can do many things to make sure birds have the habitats and elements they need to survive.

Resources

"Dawn Chorus", p. 177. Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher: Birdfeeders and Bird Gardens by Robert Burton and Stephen Kress

"Avian Song", 37-43. Grizmek's Animal Life Encyclopedia , 2nd.ed., vol. 8. Micheal Hutchins, ed.

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