Donald Kroodsma 
The Backyard Birdsong Guide Eastern and Central North America 
A Guide to Listening

Back by popular demand with more than 300, 000 copies sold, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is proud to re-release the widely acclaimed and bestselling bird audio field guide series, Backyard Birdsongs, from award-winning Ornithologist and Author, Donald Kroodsma.Backyard Birdsongs is an interactive handbook of birds and their songs for beginning bird-watchers. With a touch-button electronic module housing common vocalizations of 75 species from across Eastern and Central North America, this volume offers a truly sensory way to identify and get to know local birds. Crisply detailed and scientifically accurate illustrations accompany each entry, and up-to-date range maps provide clear geographical reference points. Complete with an introduction to birdsongs that will inspire readers to look out their kitchen windows and venture out in the field, this unique book provides an exciting entryway into the subtle art of birding.This second edition includes a much-requested new Sound Track Index (to help make watching and listening to birds easier), and a download of the award-winning MERLIN™ Bird ID App available FREE on i Tunes and Android stores (no code necessary).35% of the net proceeds from the sale of Backyard Birdsongs supports projects at the Cornell Lab, such as children’s educational and community programs.

Table of Content

CONTENTSNew Inside Cover SOUND TRACK INDEXINTRODUCTION: THE WORLD OF BIRDSONGWhy Birds Sing 10Where Each Bird Gets His Song 12Songs and Calls 14The Practice of Deep Listening 15Where to Begin 21How to Use the Audio Player 22SECTION 1: THE NON-PASSERINE GROUP Ducks and Geese (Anatidae) 26 Canada Goose Ducks and Geese (Anatidae) 28 Mallard New World Quail (Odontophoridae) 30 Northern Bobwhite Loons (Gaviidae) 32 Common Loon Grebes (Podicipedidae) 34 Pied-billed Grebe Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae) 36 Red-tailed Hawk Rails, Gallinules, and Coots (Rallidae) 38 Sora Plovers (Charadriidae) 40 Killdeer Sandpipers and Phalaropes (Scolopacidae) 42 American Woodcock Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae) 44 Mourning Dove Owls (Strigidae) 46 Great Horned Owl Owls (Strigidae) 48 Barred Owl Goatsuckers (Caprimulgidae) 50 Whip-poor-will Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) 52 Belted Kingfisher Woodpeckers (Picidae) 54 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers Woodpeckers (Picidae) 56 Northern Flicker SECTION 2: THE PASSERINE GROUPTyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) 60 Eastern Wood-Pewee Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) 62 Willow Flycatcher Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) 64 Eastern Phoebe Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) 66 Great Crested Flycatcher Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) 68 Eastern Kingbird Vireos (Vireonidae) 70 White-eyed Vireo Vireos (Vireonidae) 72 Warbling Vireo Vireos (Vireonidae) 74 Red-eyed Vireo Jays and Crows (Corvidae) 76 Blue Jay Jays and Crows (Corvidae) 78 American Crow Swallows (Hirundinidae) 80 Purple Martin Chickadees and Titmice (Paridae) 82 Black-capped Chickadee Chickadees and Titmice (Paridae)84 Carolina Chickadee Chickadees and Titmice (Paridae)86 Tufted Titmouse Nuthatches (Sittidae) 88 White-breasted Nuthatch Wrens (Troglodytidae) 90 Carolina Wren Wrens (Troglodytidae) 92 House Wren Wrens (Troglodytidae) 94 Winter Wren Wrens (Troglodytidae) 96 Marsh Wren Thrushes (Turdidae) 98 American Robin Thrushes (Turdidae) 100 Eastern Bluebird Thrushes (Turdidae) 102 Hermit Thrush Thrushes (Turdidae) 104 Wood Thrush Thrushes (Turdidae) 106 Veery Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae) 108 Gray Catbird Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)110 Northern Mockingbird Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)112 Brown Thrasher Starlings (Sturnidae) 114 European Starling Waxwings (Bombycillidae) 116 Cedar Waxwing Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 118 Blue-winged Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 120 Northern Parula Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 122 Yellow Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 124 Chestnut-sided Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 126 Black-throated Green Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 128 Prairie Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 130 Black-and-white Warbler Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 132 American Redstart Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 134 Ovenbird Wood-Warblers (Parulidae) 136 Common Yellowthroat Tanagers (Thraupidae) 138 Scarlet Tanager Sparrows (Emberizidae) 140 Eastern Towhee Sparrows (Emberizidae) 142 Chipping Sparrow Sparrows (Emberizidae) 144 Field Sparrow Sparrows (Emberizidae) 146 Savannah Sparrow Sparrows (Emberizidae) 148 Song Sparrow Sparrows (Emberizidae) 150 White-throated Sparrow Sparrows (Emberizidae) 152 Dark-eyed Junco Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Buntings (Cardinalidae) 154 Northern Cardinal Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Buntings (Cardinalidae)156 Rose-breasted Grosbeak Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Buntings (Cardinalidae)158 Indigo Bunting Blackbirds (Icteridae) 160 Bobolink Blackbirds (Icteridae) 162 Red-winged Blackbird Blackbirds (Icteridae) 164 Eastern Meadowlark Blackbirds (Icteridae) 166 Common Grackle Blackbirds (Icteridae) 168 Brown-headed Cowbird Blackbirds (Icteridae) 170 Baltimore Oriole Finches (Fringillidae) 172 House Finch Finches (Fringillidae) 174 American Goldfinch Old World Sparrows (Passeridae) 176 House Sparrow More Fun with Birdsong 178Additional Listening and Reading Sources 180References 181Illustration Credits 182Recording Credits 182About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology 183About the Artists 184 About the Author 185Index 186Acknowledgments 192

About the author

Donald Kroodsma is professor emeritus of ornithology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a world-renowned authority on birdsongs. He is the author of The Singing Life of Birds (winner of the 2006 John Burroughs Medal Award and the American Birding Association’s Robert Ridgway Distinguished Service Award for excellence in publications pertaining to field ornithology), The Backyard Birdsong Guides, and Birdsong by the Seasons.Donald’s work on bird song is legendary. In 2003 the American Ornithologists’ Union called him the ‘reigning authority on the biology of avian vocal behavior.’ Kroodsma received his Ph.D. at Oregon State University and has traveled all over North and South America researching bird song. He is a Visiting Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Ornithologists’ Union, and the Animal Behavior Society and has published hundreds of academic and popular articles. He lives in Hatfield, MA.Larry Mc Queen painted the popular Project Feeder Watch eastern and western Common Feeder Birds posters. Bird images from those posters and from other sources, including three original watercolor paintings done for Bird Source’s Warbler Watch site, are used throughout both the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s web site and the Bird Source web site. Larry’s work is widely known and respected, having appeared widely in calendars, catalogs, and magazines, including the Lab’s own Living Bird. He has illustrated for many books, such as The Audubon Master Guide to Birding, and you’ll find his images in a number of field guides.Originally from Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, Larry earned degrees from Idaho State University and the University of Oregon. After a career in fish and game management and then as a graphic designer, he started painting full-time in 1977. He now lives in Eugene, OR.Jon Janosik was born in Connecticut in 1941. Living with my grandparents on their Trumbull farm in my formative years, he became enchanted with wild birds, nature and Biology. He became acquainted with Roger Tory Peterson and gained many early skills in the field while attending Peterson’s local bird walks.Jon’s work has been featured in such books as Field Guide to North American Birds (National Geographic Society), Birds of the Ligonier Valley (Carnegie Museum) , The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, An Audubon Handbook, Western/Eastern Birds, and Book of North American Birds (Readers Digest Books). Jon’s works have been exhibited in numerous museums, and galleries including: Kobe Museum, Sanda Japan; The Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum-Wausau WI; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh PA; Moji Art Galley, Kitakyushu Japan; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (Birds in Art), Kirritappu Wetland Center, Hokkaido, Japan and the British Museum, London England.