Listen and learn from the sweet song of birds that fills the summer air
Last summer I had the opportunity to hang out at a couple 4-H meetings with the Cloverbud members of our 4-H club. While the older members have their business meeting, these kindergarten and first-graders learn a lesson or do a craft. After completing a nature hunt during one of the first meetings, it was obvious these children liked being outside.
So, a few weeks later, I took a couple of field guides for them to look through with plants and birds. They were enthralled with the bird book. I quickly found an app to download with bird calls. Before I knew it, I was the one completely enthralled. How in nearly five decades of my life had I not appreciated the complexity and uniqueness of these songbirds that surrounded me every year?
As I sit here typing on my front porch, the sun will be setting in about an hour. The shadows are stretching out longer and longer and the smell of fresh mowed hay is on the breeze. I’m sure I hear at least 10 different types of bird songs.
The cardinal is the most distinct right now. When my brother was little, he had a key chain with five different alarm sounds. It drove us crazy. My little cardinal friend is perched up on the power lines and he sounds like two of those alarm sounds. He almost sounds like he is calling to my neighbor, “Judy! Judy! Judy!”
My son built bluebird houses with my dad a couple of summers ago. We put one up last summer so we could see it from the sliding glass door. They were so fun to watch peek in and out and in and out. There is just no blue quite as vibrant as the Eastern bluebird.
Not long ago, while enjoying dinner on the patio, I quizzed my family with bird calls from the free Audubon Bird Guide app. Chirps and tweets and screeches and trills. Then, I noticed a red-bellied woodpecker was making his way closer to us. The more I played the calls on my phone, the more he responded. He finally got bored with us and made his way back to the trees.
My next feat was calling the swallows out of the barn to swoop around the patio umbrella. How amazing they heard me from 50 yards away and came out to see who the new bird was in their territory.
I have an extension colleague who is a self-proclaimed bird nerd. I was able to go on a short hike with her this spring during a work retreat and her fascination was contagious. Laura loves to spend time in nature and observe birds. In an Ohio State University Extension Live Healthy Live Well post, she shared several benefits that have been confirmed by research. A study found just listening to bird songs contributes to perceived attention restoration and stress recovery. Regular exposure to nature is associated with improvements in cardiovascular disease and longevity.
I must confess I used to be annoyed at 4:30 a.m. when the birds began making a racket. Now I have learned many songbirds sing a special song first thing in the morning. It is only sung to welcome the dawn. Now I hear praises rather than racket, and that gives me a new appreciation and joy during these summer months. I encourage you to observe the birds you encounter this week.
In fact, if you send a bird photo to me at marrison.12@osu.edu by June 30, I’ll put your name in a drawing for a free bluebird house. I can’t wait to see your pictures.
Today, I’ll leave you with this quote from David Attenborough: “Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?”
Emily Marrison is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 740-622-2265.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Sweet song of birds fills the summer air
