American Robin and the Art of Song

American Robin. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public Domain.

As this eloquent American robin can attest, one sings and sings because one has to sing. And researcher/writers like Don Kroodsma have made a career of listening (really listening) and analyzing (really analyzing) the calls, songs, and sounds of many birds. As soon as I figure out how to pay for it, I will purchase The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong ($28.00, Houghton Mifflin, 2005). I cannot wait to get this book. Reviewer Eldon Greij gives it an enthusiastic, two-thumbs-up review in August 2005's Birder's World. Apparently, Kroodsma's life's work began as a child listening to birds in his backyard. He has made many sharp observations over the years and has distinguished subtleties and variations in bird calls overlooked by others. Greij asserts that Kroodsma's writing is "magical." This compliment caught my attention. I could not help but wonder if all that deep listening to bird calls has both awakened and nourished Kroodma's creative and hearing brain.

About the only things that can soothe me from the cacaphony of modern civilization when I am very rattled are (a) my Bose headphones; and (b) birds. Our times are much too noisy for good health. Demonstrating the ability to really listen to birds should be made a part of the sixth grade proficiency test. I know; my love of birds clouds my reason. However, today's kids will have even harder environmental decisions and crises to face as adults. I am afraid that, except for loving pets (which is also important), admiration for and knowledge of nature in its wilder forms is increasingly rare. There is some research that links the ability to listen with the development of empathy. I need to get my hands on it.