Sweet bird song fills the summer air
Last summer, I had the opportunity to hang out with the Cloverbud members of our 4-H club at a few 4-H meetings. While the older members have their business meeting, these kindergarten and first graders are learning a lesson or practicing a craft. After completing a nature hunt at one of the first meetings, it was obvious that these kids loved being outside.
So a few weeks later, I took them some field guides where they could read about plants and birds. They were fascinated by the bird book. I quickly found a bird song app to download. Before I knew it, I was the one who was completely captivated. How had I not learned to appreciate the complexity and uniqueness of these songbirds that surrounded me every year in nearly five decades of my life?
As I sit here on my porch typing, the sun will be setting in about an hour. The shadows are getting longer and the smell of freshly cut hay is in the air. I’m sure I hear at least 10 different bird songs.
The cardinal is the most noticeable one at the moment. When my brother was little, he had a keychain with five different alarm sounds on it. It drove us crazy. My little cardinal friend sits on the power lines and makes noises like two of these alarm sounds. It almost sounds like he’s calling out to my neighbor: “Judy! Judy! Judy!”
My son built nesting boxes for blue tits with my dad a few summers ago. Last summer we put one up so we could see it from the sliding glass door. It was so much fun watching them peek in and out. There’s just no blue as bright as the Eastern Blue Tit.
Not long ago, while we were eating dinner on the patio, I asked my family bird calls from the free Audubon Bird Guide app. Chirps and twitters and screeches and trills. Then I noticed a red-bellied woodpecker coming closer to us. The more I played the calls on my phone, the more it responded. Eventually it got tired of us and headed back toward the trees.
My next accomplishment was to call the swallows from the barn to come and flock around the parasol. How amazing that they heard me from 50 yards away and came out to see who the new bird in their territory was.
I have a colleague at Extension who calls herself a bird nerd. I was able to go on a little hike with her this spring during a work trip and her fascination was contagious. Laura loves spending time in nature and watching birds. In an Ohio State University Extension post, Live Healthy Live Well, she shared several benefits backed by research. One study found that just listening to birdsong helps restore attention and manage stress. Regular time spent in nature is associated with improved cardiovascular disease and increased longevity.
I must confess that I used to get annoyed when the birds started making noise at 4:30 a.m. Now I’ve learned that many songbirds sing a special song first thing in the morning. It’s sung just to greet the dawn. Now I hear songs of praise instead of noise, and that gives me a new appreciation and joy during these summer months. I encourage you to watch the birds you encounter this week.
If you send me a bird photo to [email protected] by June 30, I’ll even enter your name into a drawing for a free bluetit feeder. I can’t wait to see your pictures.
Today I say goodbye with this quote from David Attenborough: “Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, so close to us and to everyone in the world, so universal, as a bird?”
Emily Marrison is a family and consumer science educator at OSU Extension and can be reached at 740-622-2265.
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