How to Identify Birds by Sound

Take advantage of the technology available to birdwatchers. Visit websites such as the All About Birds website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and listen to the sounds of the birds that the site has for many species. Other sites that provide bird calls and songs exist, such as Whatbird.com.

Invest in some of the many audio compact discs on the market that feature regional bird songs. These can train you to recognize the different bird songs of those species that exist where you live. They are excellent for trips into the field in search of bird sounds, with some set up so you may quickly access the song of a particular bird.

Start with learning the sounds of the most common birds you will encounter. This begins with the birds in your own backyard. Study the sounds of the birds that frequent your feeders, nearby trees, lawn and surrounding terrain. Once you know the sounds made by birds like blue jays, robins, sparrows, crows, blackbirds and other often-seen birds you can start to expand your knowledge of bird sounds to other kinds of birds.

Join a local bird watching club and attempt to learn from experts. By going afield with someone already well versed in identifying birds by their sounds and willing to share her expertise, you can quickly absorb a large amount of data.

Learn the sounds of certain birds whose calls you can break down into words. Such birds include the northern bobwhite with its call of "bob-bob-white", the whippoorwill with its call that echoes its name as night falls and the black-capped chickadee with its "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" sounds.

Train yourself to recognize the differences in the tone, pitch and rhythm of a bird's song or repeated call. In many instances, this can allow you to focus in on birds of a certain size, which then aids greatly in identifying the species that you heard. For example, the larger birds typically make sounds with a deeper voice than the smaller ones do.