Why Do Birds Sing?

There are around 10,000 species of birds all over the world, and every single species has its own unique song – in fact, birds can tell that every single bird in he world has a different song, just like our voices or fingerprints. But why do they sing?

There are actually quite a few reasons for birds to sing – and you’d certainly think so, when birds such as the Brown Thrasher can sing as many as 2,000 different songs! Here are a few of their motives:

To attract a partner

Singing is one of the main ways that most of the birds on the planet flirt and find a mate. Usually, the male bird will sing his heart out until a special female bird notices his beautiful voice. Many birds then pair up for life, all because of that one fateful serenade – pretty romantic, right?

Not-so-friendly neighbours

A lot of birds are very territorial, which means they don’t like other birds hanging out in their favourite spots! They sing to their intruders to get them to leave.

♫ “Geeet offf my laaaaawn” ♬

To chat

Despite being territorial, most birds actually really like spending time with other birds, and use a wide variety of different songs to communicate with each other. Scientists have discovered that the early morning dawn chorus is possibly mostly just birds greeting each other, like us saying “good morning!”. This is definitely the case with Banded Wrens from Costa Rica – They listen to each other and have a complex range of responses for all of their different friends.

Getting about

Do you ever like putting the radio on in the car and singing along while you’re on your way to school or off on holiday? Well, birds also sing as they fly about, searching for food and going about their daily business.

So, next time you hear a bird singing, have a think about how important music is to birds in their every day life. We have more in common with our feathered friends than we might realise!