Bird is a warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate animal distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, a beak, and typically by being able to fly. Most Birds can fly, using powerful muscles to flap their wings. But few bird species do not have strong enough wings to fly, so these birds are flightless. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or “perching” birds. Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviors as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Recreational bird watching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. Singing-bird means a bird sings a songster. The singing of birds is one of the most refreshing sounds in nature, which can provide great joy and peace to both body and mind of human beings. Every morning sound of bird’s song will be more joyful and refreshing to hear while waking up. There are some species of birds which are able to sing, almost all of the males sing.
1.Common Nightingale
Rufous Nightingale or Nightingale is a small passerine bird from the thrush family Turdidae. The nightingale is the national bird of Ukraine. One legend tells how nightingales once only lived in India, when one nightingale visited Ukraine. The name nightingale means ‘night songstress’. “Nightingale” is derived from “night”, and the Old English galan, “to sing”. Common Nightingale is considered as the most pleasant melodic bird song. The song of a matured nightingale male consists of more than 250 variations. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. It is possible to hear the song of the nightingale at dawn and during the night.
Song of the these birds has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, inspiring songs, fairy tales, opera, and a great deal of poetry. Both male Nightingale and female Nightingale looks similar. The common nightingales live in Asia, Europe, Africa and Mediterranean. It is not found naturally in America. The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European Robin with the length between 5.5-6.5 inches. Common Nightingales have plain brown plumage, whitish throat and reddish brown plumage. These bird’s nest will be on or near the ground in dense vegetation. In the winter season they migrate to Africa and in the Spring season they travel to North to breed.
2.Canary
The Canary species (Serinus canaria) comes from finch lineage and originated in the Canaries, a small chain of islands located off the West African Coast. The male Canary birds are better singers than females. Canary birds are masters in imitating the sounds they hear from the surroundings repeatedly. The proper training from the owners also let them to learn varieties of songs and sounds. They show ability to learn instrument tones, musical notes and sounds of other birds. The Canary birds sing in all seasons except summer. Europeans fell in love with the canary’s song, and began importing. These birds were eventually transported across the Atlantic ocean to the North and South American continents, and wild canaries still roam throughout parts of Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Canaries have attractive yellow feathers and these are having friendly nature with human beings. These species can come in a variety of colors other than yellow, like white, pink, and orange, although yellow is by far the most popular of all the choices. Solid-colored canaries do not naturally appear in the wild; in fact, breeders specifically created solid-colored canaries to be pets and the musically talented bird’s popularity inspired the naming of this specific shade of yellow. According to folklore, the Canary Islands were named after a first century native chief who explored the islands and found the largest of them to be overrun by a pack of wild dogs. This inspired the chief to name the island Canaria after the Latin word for dog – Canis. Many years later, visitors who came across the wild canary birds belting their songs throughout the trees began collecting these birds and nicknamed canaries. Canaries can live more than 14 years with proper care.
3.Asian Koel
The Asian koels are a member of the Cuckoo family. We can find up to 14 subspecies. They are unusual among the Cuckoos in being largely frugivorous as adults. They found in India, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Solomon Islands and Southeast Asia. They inhabit light woodlands, shrubby areas with scattered trees, gardens, plantations, and urban areas. The male Asian koel has a typical call “ko-ooo‘ and they repeat the call in definite intervals. The female bird has rhythmic ‘kik-kik-kik‘ call. It has been compared with the “nightingale” due to its melodious call. The Koel makes a variety of calls, including the distinctively loud, repetitive, high- pitched mating calls from dawn, and can sometimes be heard till night.
The Asian koels are very vocal during the breeding season (March to August in South Asia). This bird is a widely used symbol in Indian and Nepali poetry. Asian koels inhabit in light woodlands. The male Asian koels are in glossy-bluish color. The females have brown upper parts with white spots. Their underparts are creamy with brown bars. Adults have ruby-red eyes and wings are relatively short. Thick, large bill is slightly down-curved and very pale in color The Asian koel is a large and long-tailed cuckoo measuring 39–46 cm (15–18 in) and weighing 190–327 g. Asian koel is a brood parasite bird and it lays eggs in the nest of other birds including crows, shrikes, and starlings. It will provide parental care until the young Koel is ready to fly.
4.Rose breasted Grosbeak
Rose-breasted grosbeak is an attractive song bird that is native to Northeastern United States and Canada. Rose-breasted grosbeak produces melodic, warbled songs that sound like songs of American robin with slightly shorter phrases. Both male and female rose-breasted grosbeaks can sing in a melodious voice, features many notes in different pitches. They have bright black and white plumage with dark red triangle marking on white breast. Rose-breasted grosbeak can reach 7.1 to 8.3 inches in length and 1.4 to 1.7 ounces of weight. The rose-breasted grosbeaks are breed in woodlands and forest of Northeastern United States. In winter season, they migrate to Central and South America. Males and females build nest in the trees together. Nest is cup-shaped and made of twigs, decaying leaves and straws. The finished nest measures about 3.5–9 inches across and 1.5–5 inches high on the outside, while the inner cup is about 3–6 inches across and 1–3.5 inches deep.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breed in moist deciduous forests, deciduous-coniferous forests, thickets, and semi open habitats across the northeastern United States, ranging into southeastern and central Canada. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks eat, beetles, bees, ants, sawflies, bugs, butterflies, and moths, elderberries, blackberries, raspberries, mulberries, June berries, and seeds of smartweed, pigweed, foxtail, milkweed, plus sunflower seeds, garden peas, oats, wheat, tree flowers, tree buds, and cultivated fruit. It is porous and eggs can be seen from below. Female lays 1 to 5 pale green or bluish eggs. Both males and females participate in the incubation of eggs during a period of 11 to 14 days. Hatchlings are helpless at birth and depend on their parents until the age of 30 days. Rose-breasted grosbeak can survive more than 12 years in the wild.
5.American Robin
Robins are very popular birds both in North America, as well as in Europe. American robins inhabit in pine forests, mountainous regions, shrub lands and woodlands. It is the National bird of Great Britain. The American Robin belongs to the thrush family, which also includes bluebirds and solitaires. It is often the last bird heard as the sun sets. This North American bird is known for its striking plumage and beautiful song. The song of the American robin features different whistles. They repeat some phrases for three for four times in a sequence in different pitches. Their song becomes more clear and pleasing at dawn. American robins also make alarm calls when they get threatened by potential predators. The plumage of American robins are in gray-brown color, head in is in black and has orange under parts. Unlike male the female bird has pale color. The male and female American Robins look surprisingly similar, although if you look closely, the female is a bit duller than the male. Female adults go to the roosts only after they have finished nesting. The birds use pieces of straw, twigs, and dry leaves to build cup-shaped nests, and add moss, mud, and sometimes feathers to mend and line the interiors.
Female robins pick nesting sites tucked away in thickets or unexposed tree branches, but sometimes they nest on the ground or atop outdoor light fixtures, too. Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes including a quarter-million birds during winter. In summer, females sleep at their nests and males gather at roosts. As young robins become independent, they join the males. Robins can raise up to three broods in one breeding season, each time laying 3-5 sky-blue eggs that take roughly 14 days to hatch. American Robins live for two years in the wild. Some individuals live as long as 6-9 years, with one wild robin living almost 14 years. Robins sometimes will flock to fermented berries. By ingesting large quantities include more insects and worms in their spring and summer diets, they appear to be drunk and exhibit behaviors such as falling over while walking. It is one of their main characteristics. The comic-book superhero Robin was inspired by an illustration of Robin Hood, a later version had his mother nicknaming him Robin because he was born on the first day of spring. American robins feed on earthworms, insects and fruits.
6.Song Thrush
A familiar and popular garden Song Thrush bird can be seen on farmland and in towns and cities. They mainly inhabit in woodlands, suburban garden and parks. Song thrush is an attractive, singing bird that found in Asia, Europe and Africa. Adult males and females are alike and these are omnivorous. Song thrushes are known for their beautiful song that features a wide range of notes. Song thrushes also repeat some phrases three of four times while singing. Several call notes; most often a thin sharp ‘ssit’ also an alarm call, which is a high pitched ‘tic-ic-ic-ic-ic’. Mimicry may include the imitation of man-made items like telephones, and the song thrush will also repeat the calls of captive birds, including exotics such as the white-faced whistling duck.
Song Thrush is smaller and browner than a Mistle thrush with smaller spotting. Song Thrush is relatively small and has a length between 8-9.5 inches and weigh up to 110 grams. The head of Song Thrush shows a faint eye stripe, more pronounced and buffy in front of the eye, a thin dark malar stripe and patchy ear coverts. Its breast is washed buff continuing down the flanks, belly and under tail pale creamy white. It likes to eat snails which it breaks into by smashing them against a stone with a flick of the head. The song thrush builds a neat mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue eggs. Song thrushes also travel for long distance in between seasons.
7.Channel-billed Cuckoo
The channel-billed cuckoo is a species of Cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. With a wingspan of one meter the Channel-billed Cuckoo is the largest parasitic bird in the world and the largest Cuckoo. Channel-billed cuckoo” has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists’ Union (IOC). Latham gave it the name “channel-bill” after a groove in its upper mandible. They can be found in Eastern Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand. Each bird of Channel-billed Cuckoo would makes loud calls in different tones. The Channel-billed cuckoo measures between 56–70 cm (22–28 in) long, with 88–107 cm (35–42 in) wingspan, and weighing between 560–935 g.
The bill is bi-colored, with a grey base becoming straw-colored at the tip. The bill is large slightly curved and reminiscent of the bills of hornbills. The bird is sometimes erroneously referred to as a hornbill. The channel-billed cuckoos lay eggs in nests of other birds, especially in nest of Australian magpies. It takes three to four weeks for to get the cuckoo chicks to get in full feathered shape and they leave the host’s nest. During spring season channel-billed cuckoos migrate to Eastern Australia. They breed in subtropical regions of Australia. In next winter season, channel-billed cuckoos will return to New Zealand and Indonesia. There are three subspecies, one migratory, the other two residents.
8.House Sparrow
The small and beautiful house sparrows are closely connected with humans. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia, but they found in most parts of the world and inhabit in rural and urban areas. Their introduction into North America occurred in 1851, when a group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York. You won’t find them in extensive woodlands, forests, or grasslands. Their song features different types of notes like ‘chirup’ or ‘cheeps‘.female house sparrows use such notes very rarely where the male bird uses different notes to make contact and to attract female. The female house sparrows make soft chattering sound when a male bird come within its sight. They also make alarm calls which sounds like ‘quer..quer…quer’.
The plumage of the house sparrow is mostly different shades of grey and brown. Males have a grey crown, black bib, reddish-brown back streaked with black, and grey breast and belly, while females have brown, streaky backs and are buff below. The house sparrow is typically about 16 cm (6.3 in) long, ranging from 14 to 18 cm (5.5 to 7.1 in) and weight of sparrow ranges from 24 to 39.5 g. It is a compact bird with a full chest and a large, rounded head. Males are slightly larger than females. House sparrows also aggressively protect their nest. House sparrows eat various kinds of seeds supplemented by some insects, they mainly feed on berries, seeds and insects. The average life expectancy of a wild sparrow is almost always under 10 years, and usually closer to 4-5 years. In captivity, they have a life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.
9.Black-billed Magpie
Black-billed Magpie belongs to the crow family. Magpie is a sedentary bird. They communicate with each other via chattering voice, they make loud chattering in “wock-woch, pjur, queg-queg-queg, weer-weer” notes. They are also known for mimicking the sounds of other birds. It spends most of its life in the radius of 6 miles of the place of birth. Black-billed Magpies live among the meadows, grasslands, and sagebrush plains of the West. Though they like open areas and are not found in dense woods, they stay close to cover for protection from raptors. Magpie is an omnivore. Magpie can reach 16 to 18 inches in length and 7 to 9 ounces of weight with a wingspan of 24 inches. Magpie has long, pointed beak, short, rounded wings and long, wedge-shaped tail. Magpie is easily recognized, black-and-white-colored bird. Upper parts of the body and wings are black-colored with iridescent green, purple and blue sheen. Belly, parts of wings, flanks and ramp are covered with white plumage. Males and females look alike. It can rapidly change direction of flight when needed. Magpie is very intelligent bird and one of the rare animals that can recognize its own image in the mirror.
It consumes grains, berries, nuts and fruit during the winter, eggs, chicks and rodents during the spring and insects during the summer. They also kill small mammals such as squirrels and voles, and raid birds’ nests. According to a popular myth, magpie likes to collect and store shiny objects and jewelry in the nest. Recent scientific studies show that magpie is actually scared of shiny items and that it avoids them. Magpies are monogamous birds that mate for a lifetime. Magpies nest in the trees, or on the ground when trees are not available. Nest can be open or more frequently covered with roof and equipped with two entrances. Nests are typically about 30 inches high and 20 inches wide. Female lays 5 to 8 eggs that hatch after 3 weeks. Female is responsible for the incubation of eggs, while male provides food for female during this period. Both parents take care of their chicks until they learn. Young magpies learn to fly at the age of 3 to 4 weeks. Magpie lives in loose flocks during the summer and in large groups of around 200 birds during the winter. Magpie can survive around 5 years in the wild.
10.Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Zanda funerea) is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring 55–65 cm (22–26 in) in length. The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is found in forested regions from south and central eastern Queensland to southeastern South Australia including a very small population persisting in the Eyre Peninsula. This social yellow-tailed black cockatoo known for their loud calls. They usually make high-pitched contact calls like “kee-ow…kee-ow…kee-ow“. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos make soft calls while searching for food and harsh alarm calls when get threatened. Their loud, wailing calls carry for long distances. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band.
The body feathers are edged with yellow giving a scalloped appearance. The adult male has a black beak and pinkish-red eye-rings, and the female has a bone-colored beak and grey eye-rings. In flight, yellow-tailed black cockatoos flap deeply and slowly, with a peculiar heavy fluid motion. Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos were once content to feed on the seeds of native shrubs and trees, especially banksias, hakeas and casuarinas, as well as extracting the insect larvae that bore into the branches of wattles. Breeds November-February. This species has a long breeding season. Both sexes construct a nest in a large tree hollow. The clutch size is usually 2 and the female incubates the eggs while the male supplies food. Usually only one chick survives which both parents care for. Time in the nest is around 168 days.
