Common Bird Songs

This recording was carefully planned to aid the birdwatcher or nature lover to recognize common American birds by their song or call. Recorded in the field, mostly in Ohio and Maine, it reproduces the songs and calls of 60 different, widely distributed birds of the United States and Canada. It was prepared by Professor Donald J. Borror of the Department of Zoology and Entomology of Ohio State University, one of the nation's foremost experts in animal sound responses. While typical bird songs and calls, of course, have been stressed, the author has included a wide range of song variants to make identification easier for the beginner. The songs of the individual bird may vary; the songs of different individuals within the same species may differ considerably; and songs from birds of different species may be very similar. To overcome this difficulty, Professor Borror has included songs by different individuals for more than three-quarters of the birds concerned. In some cases (such as the Slate-colored Junco, the Song Sparrow, and the Cardinal) as many as nine different individuals are recorded. As a result, you will learn to recognize birds not only on the basis of the particular song or song pattern, but by the kind of songs and its general qualities.