What is Birdsong?
Birds make many sounds to communicate. Often they will have different sounds to stay in touch, beg for food, or sound an alarm, for example. But most well known is the phenomenon of song: these longer, more complex, sometimes musical series of notes are the center of spring’s soundtrack. As temperatures warm and days lengthen, birds respond physiologically to environmental cues, with song one of the first signs of the nesting season. As male birds defend territories with more diligence, singing helps to advertise an individual’s presence and readiness to defend his patch from potential rivals, while demonstrating his good health and vigor to potential mates.
In this post, I’ll share ten of the most common backyard bird songs here in Marin, or really in much of the Bay Area or Northern California, with descriptions and a sequence that should make it easy for you to get started recognizing the birds in your yard by ear.
For more on what birdsong is all about and some more in-depth tips on how to go about learning these sounds in a way that will stick with you, see the companion article on How to Learn Birdsong. And once you’ve mastered these ten birds, you may want to move on to the sequel, Ten Woodland Birdsongs.
Ten Common Yard Birds
Here are ten of the most common bird songs you’ll hear in a typical yard here in Marin or elsewhere in coastal California. If you’d like to learn more about birdsong, we always give a few seminars each spring expanding on this material at our Novato store – check our Upcoming Events calendar from February through May for upcoming talks. If you’d like a printable guide to these and a few other species, as well as some additional tips and resources on learning birdsong, you can download the latest version of our seminar handout.Level 1: Pretty Unmistakable Song-like Calls
1. Great Horned Owl: Deep, muffled hooting with a stuttering rhythm, hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo. The male and female of a breeding pair may perform a duet of alternating calls, with the female’s voice higher in pitch than the male’s. This is our only owl with a classic hooting sound. 2. Mourning Dove: A rather mournful cooing starting with an upwards slurred, two-part opening note: coo-AAH, cooo, coo, coo. This song always starts with that slurred and swelling two-part coo-AAH, unlike the varied and more stuttering hoots of the Great Horned Owl. Also, owls call at night; doves during the day.Level 2: Very Distinctive Songs
3. Golden-crowned Sparrow: You may have heard this winter resident singing soon after his arrival in the fall when few other birds are singing. (For more on the golden-crown and their also musical cousin the white-crowned sparrow, see our Winter Sparrows.) Golden-crowns sing sporadically throughout the winter, then more often again as weather warms in spring, before their departure in March and April for northern breeding grounds. Their song is a distinctive series of three clearly whistled, descending notes, though you will often hear only two, and occasionally four. 4. Anna’s Hummingbird: A long song (~10 seconds) of rambling squeaks, grating sounds, and buzzes, unlike any other bird. Also listen for the loud pop! made by their tail feathers at the bottom of their courtship dives. 5. Northern Mockingbird: The song is a long series of phrases, with each phrase usually repeated three times or more; the songs can go on for 20 seconds or more. Phrases may be imitations of other birds, other natural sounds, or manmade sounds, such as car alarms. Both males and females sing; unpaired males are the most vigorous singers and may even sing at night in spring.Level 3: Common, Classically Musical Songs
6. American Robin: A classic song from perhaps our most famous singer. Evenly spaced carol resembling cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily or plurrri, kliwi, plurrri, kliwi; often a series of two or three short phrases, rising and then falling, alternately repeated over and over. 7. House Finch: Song a varied, lilting warble; phrases often ends with a long veeerrr note slurred either upward or downward. This is one of our most common songs; finches can sing even during winter, especially on warmer, sunny days.
8. Lesser Goldfinch: Song is long combination of variable notes and phrases repeated randomly in rambling, intricate melody; may contain imitations of other species’ calls. Their scientific name is Spinus psaltria; a psaltria is a lyre player – a recognition of their musical talents (for much more, see our full appreciation). Our less abundant American goldfinches have a similar song, but less variable and disjointed, without imitations.
9. California Towhee: Almost every yard hosts a year-round pair of California towhees. These plain and clumsy members of the sparrow family stay in touch with a simple metallic chirp, or contact call. Their spring song is a series of these chirps, accelerating and then rapidly fading out, like a bouncing ball.
10. Oak Titmouse: Repeated series of 3–7 syllables, each made up of coupled notes alternating from high to low frequency and with whistled quality: peter peter peter. One of the earliest songs to start in spring, heard regularly starting in January.
Want more bird sounds? Check out the other entries in this series:
- How to Learn Birdsong
- Ten Backyard Bird Songs
- Ten Woodland Bird Songs
- Ten Backyard Calls
- Ten Woodland Calls
- Ten Fall Bird Sounds
Header photo: Northern Mockingbird by Allan Hack on Flickr
It’s 12:30am and a very enthusiastic bird in my backyard woke me. I thought it sounded like the mockingbird but how could that be! Your website was so helpful. In fact I played your little clip near the open window and he/she redoubled its efforts. Very pretty really.
Hi Dorothy, I’m glad the website was helpful and that you have been enjoying your mockingbird’s singing despite the late hour! I wouldn’t recommend playing recordings back to singing birds though: remember that spring songs are in large part territorial displays and the suspected presence of rival singing males is going to stress, worry, and alarm the real birds.
Thanx for the bird song info. Been trying to ID a quick procession hooting sound. By default I think it’s an owl, since I only hear it @ nite, but it is a procession of quick, higher pitched sounds. Any ideas? Bmg
Assuming you are here in the Bay Area, the other possible owls would be western screech-owl (accelerating stutter, like a bouncing ball) or possibly northern pygmy-owl (even, regular paced toots). You can listen to those sounds on Cornell’s All About Birds and see if one of those matches.
Nice job Jack. Regards, Dave
Hi Jack, I heard a bird today in Walnut Creek that sang 4-5 distinct notes followed by a longish trill; any idea what it might be? In hunting for it, I found this website–that was nice!
Hi Linda,
Hard to say. Some possibilities that end in a trill/repeated note include Bewick’s wren (quite variable, the recordings on this site are just one example out of endless possibilities) and ruby-crowned kinglet, which is singing now before they head north to breed. The kinglet song usual ends with a sequence of high-low, high-low, high-low type notes, but occasionally it is just on one pitch instead. The beginning of their song usual has some distinct notes on the same pitch, if that’s what you heard. Those two are both fairly widespread/potential yard birds. If you were near a wet place, the other song to look up is song sparrow, which is also quite variable among regions and individuals. That might actually be the closest to what you’re describing.
This is incredible! Thanks for your efforts and clear explanations. I’ll now be geeking out with bird song.
Wow! This is really neat! I have been hearing a Mockingbird and never knew it! It sounds kind of similar to a Robin at times, so I always assumed it was some other variation of Robins. I am wondering about some other kinds of birds that I can’t seem to find online. One sounds like it is saying an emphatic “a-a! a-a! a-a!”, and another sounded like a fast laugh, of “ha-ha-ha-ha-ha”. Any ideas what those are?
The first, kind of two-syllabled one sounds like it might be an acorn woodpecker (if you’re in California near some oaks, especially). The second one could be a flicker. Check out my profiles of both of those birds on this site and listen to the recordings. Though different people render sounds into words quite differently, so they could be utterly different! The more details you can include, including both qualities of the sound itself and location/habitat, the easier it is to make good guesses.
Lovely and helpful! Question: Under “American Robin,” the audio file is titled, “Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)” Is that a mistake?
Yes it was! Thanks for pointing it out. I’ve now updated the page with an authentic robin song.
Thanks for this lovely site. We’re wondering about a soft, plaintive call we hear every night in San Francisco, when we walk our dog. It seems to be coming from a neighbor’s tree, and it goes on for a long time. Not sure if I can describe it any better.
Hmm, I’m afraid I can’t do too much with that one. In summer, there are many birds that could have begging young that might sound plaintive, and go on for a long time, sometimes into the evening. More information would be needed!
Hi Jack-Thank you for sharing the birdsong! I had two questions, is it a red tailed hawk that I see and hear so frequently in Novato? And, do you know what bird(s) I would hear in mid-may at around 6 in the morning?
Thanks!
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
Red-tailed hawks are our most abundant hawks and they are somewhat vocal. They give separated, long, drawn-out, sinking screams. The other noisy hawk we have is the red-shouldered hawk, which is somewhat less numerous but not uncommon, but very vocal – their calls are faster, repeated notes: “keeer, keeer, keeer, keeer.” For your May morning bird, there could be many. By 6 AM in spring there can be dozens of different birds singing. If you have in mind something notably early, mockingbirds can sing while it’s still night and robins are in most places the first bird to sing in the pre-dawn hour or so.
Thank you for this! What bird is that that you hear at the 9 second mark in the Mourning Dove video clip? I’ve been hearing that every morning here in San Jose. Can’t spot the bird.
The sharp whinny is an American robin call. Robin song is the main background sound as well.
A bird I usually hear in the daytime is now singing tonight for hours on end in Palo Alto. I have lived here for many years and have never heard this bird sing at night.
Sounds like a mockingbird! Unmated males are known for singing at night. In past years, maybe your most immediate mockingbird neighbors had previously established mates, or had less trouble finding partners, while this one may be experiencing a stressfully extended bachelorhood. Or maybe your awareness is blooming as you expand your reading of birdsong blogs. Or both!
I live in Santa Cruz and soon after dawn for the past month, I’ve heard a very repetitive song sort of like “WHEE-wip.” Over and over with barely a pause for 15-20 minutes. Any ideas? Thank you!
Hi there. Live in the northeast (NY) and just recently we are hearing an accelerating (constant) high pitch sound. we weren’t even sure it is a bird but can’t imagine what it could be. any ideas?
I’m afraid I don’t have any great ideas on that sound, though you might have better luck checking with a local naturalist.
Hi, I sounds like what I am hearing as well since the last two days. At first I thought it was left over pressure coming from the expresso machine. I am in Bennett Valley. I am pretty sure it is a bird. Starts with a quick chirp, than the steam whistle starts at a medium high pitch to increase slowly. It then ends abruptly.
They can be spaced 1-2 minutes inbetween. Not more than 3 times. Than it is quiet until next day. So there must not be tons around.
We live in the Central Valley of California, and in the mornings among the many birds we hear, there is one that stands out. Its a low pitch single note. It lasts for maybe a second, then repeats. It almost sounds like someone whistling, but it’s the same single long pitch, over and over. Any ideas?
We live along the Santa Cruz coast in the redwoods. We are about a mile from the ocean. There is a bird here with a call like the African instrument called a Shekere? Does anyone know what bird that might be? Jill in Corralitos
Hi, I live in Southern California. I know you are in the Bay Area but I’m hoping you can help anyways. The other day I heard a bird in our backyard tree making the most bizarre sound I’ve ever heard one make. At first I thought it was some sort of digital or video game sound I was hearing. As I listened further the sound became almost like liquid. It was so cool and strange! I hope maybe you know what this bird was called. I think it was brown or dark brown.