Site of the Week
European Birds - songs and sonagrams http://www-stat.wharton.upenn.edu/~siler/masi/eurosongs3.html
The European Birds site qualifies as a Site of the Week not because it is packed with beautiful photographs and stunning movies, or because it contains vast amounts of amazing and useful wildlife reading. It has neither of these normal requirements - but bear with me.
This site is bookmarkworthy because it has a collection of over 700 bird songs, all available to download for your listening pleasure. From the wonderful songs of the blackbird and the skylark to the raucous noise of the greater black-backed gull and quirky call of the cuckoo, all the familiar species are here. But have you ever wondered what a golden eagle actually sounds like? Or a hoopoe? Or a red kite? Just use the search facility, entering the common or scientific name, to find what you want.
Trying to find a resource like this has been a difficult task. Most websites that have birdsong files are commercial sites that want you to buy a CD, and at best you get to hear a tiny handful of samples. But here, the whole collection is free. The site also features sonagrams (graphs of the sound) of each song, and a distribution map of the bird you have selected. Unfortunately, you won’t find any pictures of the birds in here, which is a shame.
If you don’t already know them, learning the songs of a few common species adds a whole new dimension to walks in the park. The chaffinch, for example has a very easily recognisable song - repeated short notes followed by the distinctive “chip-e-chee-oo” ending. Or the yellowhammer, with its famous “little-bit-of-bread-but-no-cheeeese.” Now you can do more than go birdwatching - go birdlistening too.
Richard Northover
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