Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2020

Recording bird sounds has a been a source of great joy for us, as well as a boon to our birding-by-ear skills. First, making a recording forces us to listen intentionally for much longer than we may have otherwise, which helps commit vocalizations to memory. Then, uploading audio to The Macaulay Library allows us to revisit a recording with the helpful visual addition of its corresponding spectrogram.
 
In 2020, we uploaded 270 audio recordings to our eBird checklists. We picked our favorites to compile this Top 10 list, presented in chronological order. We hope you enjoy them!
 
Note: All recordings were made with an Olympus LS-10 hand-held portable recording device. Also, photos are not necessarily of the particular birds from the recordings, but we noted the few that are.

1. Common Raven – Guerneville, California

Corvids in general have a remarkable repertoire of vocalizations. While birding at Austin Creek State Recreation Area last January, we observed a single Common Raven sitting atop a leafless oak making this neat donkey-bray call. Almost immediately, a second raven flew in and landed directly next to the first, as if summoned. The two birds perched in silence together for several more minutes.

2. Red-winged Blackbird – Bodega, California

Red-winged Blackbirds also make an impressive array of vocalizations. Early last spring, this charming song from a male caught our ear – “Yoodle-oodle-EE-hoo!” This recording also features our favorite call type of the Red-winged, a call we’ve named the “grocery store scanner beep” – listen for it at 0:04, 0:08, 0:17, 0:26, 0:28, 0:36, and 0:42 seconds.

3. California Towhee – Sebastopol, California

California Towhees mate for life, forming socially monogamous and lifelong pair bonds. This recording is of a California Towhee vocalization called the “duet squeal” which happens when paired birds reunite after having been away from each other, even if only a short distance apart. Every time we hear a duet squeal out in the field, we grin from ear to ear imagining the reunion.
 
Read more about mated California Towhees here: California Towhee: Mates for Life.

4. Dawn Chorus – Guerneville, California

During the spring months of the pandemic, we made it a point to wake up early and experience the dawn chorus as often as possible. Each time, a tranquil sunrise and gorgeous tapestry of birdsong rewarded our bleary-eyed efforts. A particular Black-headed Grosbeak male was the main show-stopper in our yard, greeting us with this impossibly sweet, tumbling, whistled tune. We noticed this grosbeak seemed to include many more repetitive phrases first thing in the morning versus his performances later in the day.
 
Also listen out for other members of the chorus – Violet-green Swallow, Dark-eyed Junco, California Towhee, California Quail, Brown Creeper, House Finch, Anna’s Hummingbird, and Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
 
To learn more about how to distinguish the Black-headed Grosbeak’s song, visit our post here: Birding By Ear Lesson #2: Song Comparison of American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Western Tanager.

5. Steller’s Jay – Guerneville, California

Jays are notorious for mimicking hawk calls, and our neighborhood Steller’s Jays impersonate Red-shouldered Hawks in particular. We can usually suss out actual hawk calls (loud, ringing, coming from high up, and the sound sometimes moving if the hawk is soaring) versus fake Steller’s hawk calls (weak, trailing off at the end, coming from low in a tree or even a bush, and stationary). However, the bird in this recording fully convinced us it was an actual Red-shouldered Hawk – the call was loud, robust, and coming from high in the redwoods. But after minutes of searching, we finally located and witnessed the sneaky Steller’s Jay’s perfected imitation.

We can’t help ourselves – here’s one more Steller’s Jay vocalization as a bonus. Last March, a pair of Steller’s Jays built a nest very close to our deck. Each time the pair interacted in the nest during construction, they let out these adorable chatters below – very un-jay-like, if you ask us!

Here’s a photo of the pair – the bird on the left is bringing fresh material to add, while its nearly hidden mate in the nest eagerly awaits.

6. Mourning Dove – Healdsburg, California

Summer can be a confusing time of year for ear-birding due to all the weird vocalizations from the “New Kids on the Block.” Often, juvenile vocalizations are only heard for a short time before the youngsters graduate to more recognizable, adult-type sounds. At Riverfront Regional Park last July, we spent half an hour searching for the source of this new-to-us, rising whistle emanating from the lakeside brush. We finally spotted the above fledgling Mourning Dove, tucked away, emitting the call.

7. Pygmy Nuthatch – Guerneville, California

The exuberant energy that young birds exude when their parents are nearby with food is palpable. Last August, we watched a family of Pygmy Nuthatches in a tanoak tree in our yard. The fledglings twittered away incessantly while the parents took turns returning with food for the impatient youngsters. Listen at 0:14 seconds for the unmistakable “OH-MY-GAWD-FEED-ME-FEED-ME-YES-YES-YES-MORE-FOOD-MORE-FOOD!!!!” sound of an actual feeding.

8. Belted Kingfisher – Bodega Bay, California

Belted Kingfishers are loud birds, no doubt about it. Last fall, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a battle royale between two jet-fighter kingfishers. The Belted Kingfisher in the photograph above relentlessly chased a second bird for 10 minutes straight before finally dispatching with its adversary. While researching, we read how kingfishers often set up winter territories next to a prime fishing location and defend those spots aggressively. We wonder if that’s what occurred here at the prime real estate of Hole-in-the-Head Pond.
 
We’re used to hearing their typical rattle call, but during the chase the kingfishers let loose with additional vocalizations akin to barks and buzz-saws.

9. Heermann’s Gull – Bolinas, California

Sometimes a bird just has a funny voice. This is certainly the case for this Heermann’s Gull who belly-laughed its way into our hearts with this hilarious call. It took all we could muster to not burst into laughter of our own while recording the above young gull on the left.

10. Short-eared Owl – Petaluma, California

Listening to owl vocalizations is often limited to the nighttime hours when it’s not possible to see the owl at the same time. So, we savored the opportunity to actually witness the above Short-eared Owl barking and screaming hoarsely as it cruised the grasslands looking for prey.

 
Check out last year’s collection of “Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2019.”