The Careful Art of Listening

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Natural Sound Bytes

You can sharpen your nature-listening ears even as you (eck) sit indoors, thanks to a variety of helpful books, recordings and Web sites. Here’s a sampling of recommended sources.

Books, Recordings and Software

Guide to Birds of North America, Thayer Birding Software. A computerized field guide and tutor that can help you identify 925 species of birds in the United States and Canada. Includes the songs of more than 700 species, as well as photos, videos, species profiles, range maps, regional lists, self-quizzes and other useful features.

Birding By Ear: A Guide to Bird-Song Identification, by Richard K. Walton and Robert W. Lawson (Houghton-Mifflin). There are actually three different titles in this audio field guide series: a Western version, an East/Central version and More Birding by Ear for the East. All include informative booklets and three CDs (cassettes are also available). Recordings group similar-sounding bird songs together and point out the differences between, for example, the songs of mockingbirds and catbirds, field sparrows and white-throated sparrows.

The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong, by Donald Kroodsma (Houghton-Mifflin). A fascinating, in-depth look at bird songs, with a supporting CD of recordings. The book discusses the finer points of listening, including how birds learn their songs and how those songs vary among birds of the same species.

The Calls of Frogs and Toads, by Lang Elliott (Stackpole Books). A revelation to anyone who’s admired a pond-side chorus of frogs and toads. The book and CD provide photos, facts and recordings of more than 40 species in the central and eastern United States.

The Songs of Insects, by Lang Elliott (Houghton-Mifflin). A beautifully photographed 224 page book with excellent text and an accompanying CD featuring recordings of 75 different crickets, katydids, grasshoppers and other insect vocalists of the central and eastern United States.

Web Sites

Naturesongs.com A general site for sampling nature’s diverse sounds, with more than 1,000 digital recordings of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects and even weather.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library of Animal Sounds Called the world’s largest archive of animal sounds and video, with 160,000-plus recordings from around the world — from bats to baboons, woodpeckers to walruses.

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