10 Most Beautiful Birdsongs Meme

Once again John at A DC Birding Blog has put together a meme that has drawn me into participation. To quote him: “Back in April I made a list of the birds I thought were most beautiful and asked other bird bloggers to name their own. The result was a great response, with some bloggers challenging the idea of judging a bird's beauty, and others challenging the meme's North American bias.

Now I would like to do the corollary exercise, naming favorite bird songs. Birds enchant us not just for their visual beauty, but also for their many vocalizations - some harsh, some soothing, some delightful, some comical.”

When it came time to put together my own list, I found the same difficulty I had in selecting birds for the Most Beautiful Bird Meme My list is long - how to find a way to choose… I decided to choose only from the birds that come onto this property during the year – that did help a bit but I still had more than ten birds on my list. With a great deal of difficulty I finally came up with the following list:
Black-capped Chickadee – One of my favorite visitors – not because his song is so very melodic but because he has such a wide variety of sounds and is cheery and friendly.
Wood Thrush - the flute like tones are part of the evening – essential to the quiet ending of the day just as the fireflies begin to appear.
Veery Another flute like song. Mid-afternoon when the light hits the far side of the house, the Veery will come to the bird bath, after splashing a bit and drying his wings he will perch on a small shrub and sing.
Purple Finch A herald of spring. For the first time since we have lived here we have two pair of Purple Finches nesting on the property… Their warbling song is lively and complex.
Carolina Wren the Winter Wren actually should be the winner of a place in the list but he is not a regular visitor so the Carolina Wren made my list.
Baltimore Oriole The Oriole visits for bits of fruit and sugar water- although none seem to be nesting nearby, they are regular visitors who “whistle” for their keep.
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak – a welcome melodic warble adding a wonderful harmony with the bird choirs whose songs float through my window off and on during the day.
White-throated Sparrow Another early spring visitor, this year they seem to be spending the summer with us. Their whistled call of “old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody” drifts up from the ground where they glean seeds and sunflower bits dropped by the other birds.
Yellow Warbler Sometimes I miss seeing the Yellow Warbler until I hear his song - There are so many American Goldfinches in the yard and at the feeders, that I don’t notice until I hear the I’m so sweet of his call.
Song Sparrow When I work in the yard, I find myself listening for the “sweet, sweet, sweet of the song sparrow – I frequently find him perched on a stump or in some of the grasses not too far away from the deck garden - he seems to me to be sending out a bit of joy to fill the surrounding woodland.


While searching for bird songs I found an interesting site where Tony has shared the songs of the Veery, the Swainson’s Thrush and the Hermit Thrush along with a piano interpretation of their songs at Bird Songs in Musical Notation
Following this site to “Home” I discovered even more about Songs and calls of some New York State birds