Audubon Bird Call Identification Made Easy

Bird call identification can be a daunting task, especially for beginners. The sheer number of bird species and their unique calls can be overwhelming.

To make bird call identification easier, it's essential to start with the basics. The Audubon Society has identified six distinct call types: whistles, chirps, trills, warbles, screeches, and rattles.

By learning to recognize these call types, you'll be able to narrow down the possibilities and identify birds more quickly. For example, whistles are often high-pitched and melodious, while screeches are loud and harsh.

Birds make a wide range of sounds, from simple calls to complex songs.

The best place to start is distinguishing between songs and calls. Calls are 1-2 note vocalizations made by all birds for various reasons, while songs are usually made by birds in the passerine family, the songbirds.

Both songs and calls can be useful in identifying birds, depending on the situation. You may hear the sound and want to find the bird making it, or the call or song from the bird could be the final piece in the puzzle in being able to identify similar looking birds.

Consider reading: What Does It Mean When Someone Calls You a Bird?

To learn bird songs and calls, try listening to birds enough times to remember the more obvious ones. You can also use CDs that have regional birds recorded, which allows for more repetitions for memorization.

Some songs or calls can be “translated” phonetically into phrases and more easily remembered, like the Eastern bluebird's “cheer cheerful charmer” or the White-throated sparrow's “old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody”.

You can also use mobile apps like Larkwire, which quizzes you on several calls and then increases the number of birds quizzed.

The Audubon Birds Pro app contains detailed information on up to 821 common and rare bird species in North America.

Audubon Birds Pro is a perfect guide for both new and experienced birders, and I count myself among the newbies who have used the app extensively to identify birds.

The app launches to a dashboard filled with search and exploration tools, allowing you to browse the guide by characteristics such as shape, family, and more.

Each bird entry contains a concise, but fact-filled description that includes details about the range, voice, and notable physical characteristics of the species.

For the visual-oriented birder, each entry has several high-resolution images, showing the variation within the species.

The app also includes a list of similar birds, which is useful if you are having a hard time distinguishing between several birds that look alike.

The Audubon Birds Pro app is focused on helping you identify birds, making it an essential tool for any birder.

If this caught your attention, see: Bird Identification Photos

Pishing is a technique used to attract smaller birds, such as warblers, chickadees, and sparrows, by making a "shhh" sound with pursed lips.

This method can be particularly productive, especially for beginners.

Mimicking distress calls can bring birds closer to investigate, but be cautious not to stress them out.

Bird-callers, like the Audubon Bird Caller, can produce varied sounds of different pitches to mimic common birds and distress calls.

With practice, you can use these devices to bring birds out of hiding and get a better look.

However, be aware that prolonged use of distress calls, especially during breeding season, can stress birds out.

It's essential to use these techniques responsibly and only for short periods.

Audubon Birds Pro offers a bird call database that includes several common vocalizations for each bird species.

This feature allows you to identify birds in a wide range of environments by listening to and playing their calls.