Additional Resources

Books

Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist: Your Guide to Listening by Donald Kroodsma. The author is not just a world-leading expert in bird vocalizations but a wonderful writer. This book teaches about listening to bird sounds in ways that are practical and informative. Easy enough for the beginner yet detailed enough to satisfy veteran ear-birders. The book includes QR codes for each of the sounds referenced in the text. Anyone with a smartphone or tablet can use those codes to listen to the songs and calls he references.

The Singing Life of Birds by Donald Kroodsma The book includes a CD, which shows the age of the work. But the Kindle version has links in the text to each song/call described. BUT those only work on Kindle Fire and Apple IOS devices (iPhone and iPad). If you have one of those devices this work will bring you a lot of learning and enjoyment.

Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow Rather than recordings, this book relies on spectrograms. While that sounds intimidating really it is easier to understand than you'd think and definitely worth the effort to learn. The book deserves the price for the introductory chapters alone which introduce not only how to visualize bird sounds (to "see" a spectrogram in your mind's eye) but how to listen to the details of those sounds, to label and describe them.

And, if you still have that old CD player, there is Cornell's A Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern/Central North America.

Apps for Bird ID & Learning Bird Songs

(Note: your favorite Field Guide app also likely includes the songs but not the AI identification or learning features)

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is available for IOS and Android devices. This is the go-to bird ID app for many people because it can suggest the identity of a bird either visually using a photo or by sound using your smartphone's microphone or a recording. But remember, it is SUGGESTING an ID. It's still up to you to confirm that identification.

Larkwire turns learning bird sounds into a game. It's easy and fun to use for those new to birding by ear and to seasoned birders alike. There are both a web version and a smartphone app. You can easily create a playlist of just the birds addressed on this site and practice using a Gallery game to get started or a Field game, which is more challenging, as your skill and confidence grow.

Wherever you go birding, Song Sleuth can listen to and suggest possible identification for the birds you hear using your smartphone's microphone. It includes a reference to birds by David Sibley. Like any AI based bird identification app, remember that it may suggest and ID but it's up to you to confirm it.

Websites

If you listened to the bird sounds on this site you're already familiar with Cornell Lab of Ornithology's free site, "All About Birds". If you crave more detailed, in-depth knowledge you may be interested in subscribing to their "Birds of the World". If your interests require more detailed knowledge it may be well worth the price.

Of course the Audubon Guide to North American Birds site is not to be missed either! You also find there Audubon's suggestions for Birding by Ear. And they offer both books and smartphone apps too.

A wonderful summary of the introductory chapters to the Peterson Guide listed above can be found at Earbirding. On those pages you can learn about reading and visualizing spectrograms. And you'll find detailed instructions on what to listen for, all about describing bird sounds well, and more.

Know of other resources about bird songs which you'd recommend? Email us with the details and we'll consider adding them to this page!