It’s the first thing in the morning, and you’re just bringing yourself around to the idea of a new day that is facing you. All of a sudden, you can just hear a noisy chorus of birds in the background.
If you’re in the city you may just hear one or two, if you’re in the countryside then you may hear even more. It doesn’t matter where you are, the birds are always sure to make at least a little bit of noise. It’s commonly known as the ‘dawn chorus.’ You may be wondering though – what birds actually chirp in the morning?
Here’s the short answer. When you’re waking up in the morning, you’ll usually hear the same kinds of birds. You’ll hear blackbirds, eurasian wrens, chaffinches, and robins. Of course, you may not hear all of them, since it can largely depend on where you are.
People that reside in the southern hemisphere sometimes hear more birds than just these, too.
So what sorts of birds will you hear singing in the morning? Here’s a rundown.
Blackbirds
You will generally hear the common blackbird first thing in the morning. This blackbird resembles other kinds of blackbirds in many respects, like the New World Blackbirds. The truth is that they aren’t the same, though.
In North America, these birds are known as Eurasian blackbirds, and they are commonly found in North Africa, Asiatic Russia and Europe. Today you may also find them residing in locations such as New Zealand and Australia too.
You can sometimes find this bird chirping at any time of the year in one set location, though this depends on whether the bird is partially migratory, fully migratory or residential to the area.
If the climate is mostly consistent where you live, the common blackbird is likely to chirp throughout the entire year. If you’re hearing birds chirping in the morning, it’s most likely to be a blackbird.
Robins
American Robins are pretty commonplace in the US. As far as noisiness goes, they’re one of the most likely birds to chirp in the morning.
If you’re not hearing blackbirds, then there’s a good chance that what you’re hearing is a robin. These birds are quite active during the evening and night, but they are known for singing in the morning too.
Robins are part of the true thrush family, and the American Robin is named after its counterpart in Europe – the European Robin. These birds are beautiful and are associated with Christmas thanks to their red breast and gorgeous feathers. They are part of the old world flycatcher family.
You can find these birds all throughout North America. They tend to reside more often in Canada during the winter months. They tend to hang out around the Pacific coastline right up to central Mexico. They’re even the state bird for Wisconsin, Michigan and Connecticut.
American robins have quite an impressive song, especially considering that they weigh a mere 77 grams and only live for around two years in the wild.
Eurasian Wren
You can only find one part of the wren family in Africa and Eurasia, and that’s the Eurasian wren. These are very small birds that eat insects. In their local areas, they’re just called wrens. They have tails that are short and stand upright, and their necks and bills will shiver when they are nervous.
The birds tend to have russet colored feathers and will have light brown hues on their stomachs. On the supercilium the birds have a cream color. You won’t be able to tell the difference between a male and a female at first glance since they are very similar.
When fully grown, these wrens weigh a mere 9 grams and measure roughly twelve centimeters.
Chaffinch
The common chaffinch is very common in its home environment. They are found throughout the US, and as the name would suggest, they are a kind of finch. A male tends to have a very bright coloring, with blue or grey on the cap and a vibrant red chest.
The females aren’t so brightly colored – their feathers are much more dull. Both of them will have very distinct white markings on their tails and on the wings. As you can tell, they often sing during the morning, and the males are especially easy to hear.
If you get a pair of binoculars then you will find it simple to see the males practicing their song in the morning. They do this in order to get the attention of the females. When fully grown, a chaffinch weighs 21 grams in total.
The Common Pheasant
These birds are a member of the Phasianidae Pheasant family, and it has a connection to jungle fowl and household chickens. They date back to over 1000 years, and a male pheasant that has reached its maturity measures roughly 1 kg in weight. Females, on the other hand, only get to around 900 grams total.
Warblers
You’ve probably heard of warblers before. These are vibrant birds that are easy to spot out in the open thanks to their gorgeous plumage. You are sure to be happy when you notice one of them.
Members of the Parulidae family, these birds aren’t related to Old World Warblers or Australian Warblers.
The majority of warblers are arboreal, but there are certainly some that are quite terrestrial. For instance, some terrestrial warblers are the ovenbird and two water thrushes. When these warblers reach maturity they will weigh 12 grams at the maximum.
Blackcap
These birds are often seen during the bird’s morning sing song! These birds feature an olive and grey color scheme, while the undersides of them are light grey. The birds come in five different subspecies but they are all very similar in most respects.
If you look at the birds, both genders have colored caps on the heads but the colors differ. For the females the cap is red in color, while the male blackcaps have – you guessed it – a black cap. You can tell if a blackcap is singing because the sound is quite deep and sounds almost musical in nature. They finish on a high note that’s pretty loud!
Blackcaps are usually much more relaxed when they’re in a quieter location though, so you may be able to hear the song more distinctly in these conditions. A fully grown blackcap will usually reach around seventeen grams in bodyweight.
Chiffchaff
This name may sound silly, but you’ve probably seen or heard of this bird before! They are commonly seen in woodland areas.
These are basically leaf warblers, and they migrate to areas such as North Africa, South Africa, Western Europe and Southern Asia when the winter hits. They tend to reach eight grams in body weight by the time that they are fully grown.
Song Thrush
Finally we have the song thrush. The songs of these birds are very easy to distinguish since they are so unique and musical in nature. They are often a source of inspiration for people, and are definitely a reason to get up in the early morning just to catch them singing their song! They’ll reach sixty eight grams in weight by the time they are mature.
What Birds Are The Early Birds?
So which bird is the one that’s most likely to be up and ready in the morning? Songbirds, that’s the answer! These birds are most active in the morning, closely followed by the afternoon hours just before dusk hits. It’s a good idea to make sure that you keep your ears open during these times, since it’s wonderful to listen to their chirping.
What Birds Make The Most Noise In The Morning?
There’s no bird in the world louder than the male white bellbird in the morning! These birds can reach volumes of up to one hundred and sixteen decibels, which certainly isn’t quiet. They can become even louder when they’re trying to seduce another bird for mating, reaching heights of one hundred and twenty five decibels.
What Birds Will Chirp Together?
Are there birds that sing together? If you’re looking for a feathery duet, listen to the white browed sparrow weavers in the morning. These birds sing together, though it isn’t entirely clear why.
Can Other Animals Partake In A Dawn Chorus?
Yes! There are indeed other animals that may participate in the dawn chorus. There are several kinds of primate species in certain locations that enjoy singing along with the Dawn Chorus. It’s a territorial behavior in most cases.
Some animals that you may find participating include the black howler, gibbon, mantled guereza and the lesula. You can even hear the black howler from 5 km away!
What’s A Dawn Chorus?
Dawn chrouses are basically the choir of birds singing right at the beginning of the day. You will find a lot of different birds singing first thing in the morning, as we have already established.
You will notice this much more often during the springtime, since birds will try to protect their breeding grounds, try to get a mate or they’ll be trying to call in their flockmates. Some birds will also sing at different times in different locations.
You will usually find that birds positioned higher up in a tree or birds that have big eyes are the ones that first start to sing.
Are Birds Connected To The Light?
In most cases birds need to be in natural sunlight for at least some of their waking hours since they need vitamin D – besides nocturnal birds, of course. In addition to this, the sunlight is also vital for the health of their feathers, hormones, skin and organs.
Birds will usually wake up when it’s light and their natural instincts will convince them to stay in wakefulness. It allows them to be alert in case there are predators nearby too.
The problem is that birds living in areas that are more developed generally have their circadian rhythms interrupted. As such, if you live closer to the city you may find that the dawn chorus is much earlier in the day. Artificial light isn’t good for the sleep cycle, after all.
In addition to this, artificial lights can also have an effect on a bird’s migration patterns. The artificial light can cause birds in the process of migration to become disoriented. This may mean that they may end up in countries you wouldn’t expect them to be in.