In February 2019 I asked Twitter a question:
A lot of people said yes.
While you can find all the birds covered (they’re British birds only, as that’s where I live) on my Twitter feed (@levparikian), or by searching for #TwitterBirdsong, I thought it would be useful to have them all in one place. The pages are organised by week, in the order I tweeted them. They’re broadly arranged by how common they are where I live, which is a bit of a disorganised way of doing it from the scientific point of view, but for a ‘day by day’ learning project seems to work quite well. The pages are here:
Week 1 – Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Chaffinch
Week 2 – Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Nuthatch, Goldcrest, House Sparrow, Chiffchaff
Week 3 – Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Starling, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Willow Warbler
Week 4 – Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Coot, Moorhen, Skylark, Jackdaw, Magpie, Jay, Rook, Carrion Crow, Hooded Crow
Week 5 – Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Tawny Owl, Barn Owl, Little Owl, Short-eared Owl, Long-eared Owl, Siskin, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Linnet
Week 6 – Whitethroat, Treecreeper, Meadow Pipit, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Red Kite, Peregrine, Mute Swan, Reed Bunting
Week 7 – Lapwing, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Stonechat, Whinchat, Wheatear, Redstart, Black Redstart, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Cuckoo
Week 8 – Wood Warbler, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Curlew, Whimbrel, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Nightingale, Swift
Week 9: Heron, Little Egret, Bittern, Grasshopper Warbler, Ring-necked Parakeet, Dipper, Kingfisher, Lesser Whitethroat, Dartford Warbler, Bearded Tit
Week 10: Corn Bunting, Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Lesser Redpoll, Common Redpoll, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Capercaillie
Week 11: Snipe, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Eider, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Shelduck, Little Grebe, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Egyptian Goose
A note about the words used. When we talk about ‘song’ we broadly mean the noises birds make either to claim territory or attract a mate. That these noises often sound to us like music, or convey a sense of the bird’s self-expression, is a happy coincidence. Some songs, the great tit’s two-noter for example, don’t sound very ‘song-like’. Others, like the blackbird’s, are complex and attractive.
Calls are different. They serve various purposes: keeping contact, attracting attention, warning of predators, chicks begging for food, just letting the world know they’re there and so on. They’re usually short, simple and potentially very confusing to us. I’ve added some calls to each bird’s entry, but I should point out that this is by no means exhaustive.
I’ve tried to keep this as simple as possible so as not to send the beginner screaming into the cellar with their hands over their ears, but sadly (or happily, depending on how you look at it) nature is a lot messier than we might want it to be.
If you’re interested in exploring further, there’s a link to each bird’s page on the wonderful birdsong resource xeno-canto.org at the bottom of each section.
Happy listening!
The Twitter Birdsong Project is a free resource. However, if you enjoy it and would like to support it, you can buy me a coffee.