The Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds in the western hemisphere that is held between December 14 and January 5 each winter.

It was devised originally as an alternative to the 19th century tradition of hunting birds at Christmas, and has evolved to become the longest running citizen science project.

There are tens of thousands of participants - seeking out and counting tens of millions of birds each year.

2025 will be the 126th year of the Christmas Bird Count. If you don’t already participate in one, as of this episode’s release, you still have time to find and join a count local to you.

This episode was recorded during the 48th Cambridge Christmas Bird Count in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

Credits

Songbirding is a Songbirding Studios production, and was recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is by Scott Buckley.

For more information about the Christmas Bird Count, see: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

The Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds in the western hemisphere that is held between December 14 and January 5 each winter.

It was devised originally as an alternative to the 19th century tradition of hunting birds at Christmas, and has evolved to become the longest running citizen science project.

There are tens of thousands of participants - seeking out and counting tens of millions of birds each year.

2025 will be the 126th year of the Christmas Bird Count. If you don’t already participate in one, as of this episode’s release, you still have time to find and join a count local to you.

For the next two episodes I’ll be sharing with you my experiences out in the field during two of the 2024 Christmas Bird Counts, starting with the 49th Hanover-Walkerton Christmas Bird Count in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada.

Credits

Songbirding is a Songbirding Studios production, and was recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is by Scott Buckley.

For more information about the Christmas Bird Count, see: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count

The eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S124632617

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

The Northern Yellow Warbler is a bright and cheerful sounding songbird found during the breeding season all across North America.

Males of the species are yellow with some red flecks along their chest, and are very songful.

They have a number of different songs, but their most common one can be described as sounding like “sweet sweet, sweeter than sweet”.

In 2025, this species was split from what was called simply the Yellow Warbler, so this might be the first you’re hearing of it being a Northern Yellow Warbler. This is in contrast to the Mangrove Yellow Warbler, which has a reddish head and is a nonmigratory species found along the mangrove shores from Florida, south to Mexico, the Caribbean, through Central America down to South America.

Credits

Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Universfield.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

Tonight, we take a walk after dark through a swamp full of katydids, crickets, grasshoppers, and maybe an owl...

Credits Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Scott Buckley.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

The Sedge Wren is a small, russet coloured energetic songbird found breeding in fields and shallow marshes in many parts of inland North America.

Their song consists of several dry-sounding chirps followed by a short trill. Unlike other wren species they tend to be more shy, and without their loud song, can easily go unnoticed.

This episode we will be exploring Taquanyah Conservation Area near Cayuga Ontario, in May of 2022.

Credits Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Universfield.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

The Marsh Wren is a small, brownish, energetic songbird found in wetlands across a large swath of North America.

Their song is a mix of harsh trills, gurgles, and buzzes. And, like most wren species, are much louder than their small size might suggest.

This episode we will be exploring Taquanyah Conservation Area near Cayuga Ontario, first on two dates in 2024, then in the conclusion you’ll hear a surprise I found there in May of 2022.

Credits

Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Universfield.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

In the upcoming special episodes I’m going to feature songbird species who fit three criteria: that I have plenty of recordings of them, that I have not significantly featured them before, and that they are not likely to be featured in the next season of Songbirding because they do no occur in the west, or have not shown up significantly in my western recordings as of right now.

The Orchard Oriole has a curious song. Much like the Baltimore Oriole, each bird might have a slightly different song, with their own unique phrases.

This songbird has quite a varied appearance, with lemony-yellow females, and males with two plumages: one of a yellow bird with a black beard, typically seen in the second year of the bird’s life, followed up with a more mature plumage of a dark back and hood with what I like to refer to as a blood-orange chest, though some describe this more as a chestnut colour. Either way, the older males are quite a dark bird.

I find that the Orchard Oriole usually sounds like it is frequently interrupting its own whistle-y songs with terse, harsh interjections. And to my ears, sounds almost like an Eastern Warbling Vireo, except that it is interrupting its own songs.

For this episode we’ll be exploring three locations within my Ontario breeding bird atlas square, in Haldimand County, Ontario. I’ve found over the years of this survey that this species is highly successful in Haldimand, showing up in a high proportion of my random point count surveys.

Credits

Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Universfield.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.

We conclude with the finale hike of the season, listening to Swainson's Thrushes, and more.

Credits

Songbirding: The Allegheny National Forest is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Josh Woodward.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/songbirding

This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-da20d0 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Songbirding: A Birding-by-ear Podcast.