Yes, you can absolutely google bird sounds to help identify birds! There are a few different ways to do this that can be helpful.
Searching for Bird Sounds Directly on Google
One easy option is to simply search for “bird sound” or the specific bird you are trying to identify directly in Google. For example, you could search for “cardinal bird sound” or “owl hooting sound.”
When you do a search like this, Google will often pull up videos and recordings of the bird vocalizations in the search results. Listening through the various recordings can help you match what you are hearing in real life to identify the bird.
Here are some tips for searching for bird sounds on Google:
- Use descriptive keywords like “bird singing,” “bird chirping,” “bird call,” or “bird vocalization” along with details like location, color, size, etc if known.
- Listen to multiple different recordings for each bird to hear the variability in calls.
- Make sure your audio is turned up to get the full sound.
- Consider using headphones for privacy and improved audio.
- Add in the bird species name once you have a guess to confirm the ID.
Searching Google in this direct way can quickly allow you to browse various bird vocalizations to help zero in on a species.
Using Online Bird Song Databases
There are also dedicated websites and databases where you can search for bird songs and calls to identify species. These often have large libraries of bird recordings along with other helpful identification tips.
Here are some recommended online bird song databases to check out:
- Audubon Society Bird Sound Library – search by bird name or browse by family.
- All About Birds Bird Identification Guide – search for birds and listen to recordings.
- Xeno-canto Bird Sounds – massive crowd-sourced database of bird calls.
- eBird – recordings from the popular birding app.
These sites often allow for more targeted searches by species, location, or bird family. The databases are also frequently updated with new recordings from birders around the world. This can expose you to a wide variety of bird vocalizations to help with identification.
Bird Identification Apps with Sounds
There are some excellent bird ID apps you can download to your smartphone that incorporate bird sounds and songs into the identification process.
Here are some top apps that utilize bird vocalizations:
- Merlin Bird ID – uses location, photos, and sounds to ID birds.
- iNaturalist – take a photo of a bird and get ID help from the community.
- Larkwire – learn bird songs with a quiz game.
- Peterson Birds Pro – includes over 1000 bird song recordings.
- Song Sleuth – identifies birds by song recordings.
These apps make it easy to capture an audio recording of the mystery bird sound, which can then be analyzed through the app to suggest possible matches. The Location services on smartphones also aid identification. Apps provide a portable, easy way to leverage bird sounds.
YouTube and Social Media
YouTube and other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram can also be great resources for finding and identifying bird vocalizations. Some things to search for:
- Bird name + “song” or “call” – e.g. “Northern cardinal song”
- Bird name + “sound”
- General terms like “backyard birds sounds”
- Hashtags like #birdsong, #birdcalls, etc.
There are many avid birders who share recordings of the bird songs and calls they capture right in the field. Listening to multiple recordings from different users can give you a robust sample of sounds to compare to the mystery bird.
Some YouTube channels to check out:
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Doug Hitchcox
- Jason Ward
The comments section on sites like YouTube can also provide helpful tips on the species identity. Just be wary of any potential misidentifications.
Specialized Equipment for Bird Sounds
While the methods above utilize recordings already collected by others, you can also use specialized equipment to capture high-quality audio recordings of birds yourself to aid identification.
Some equipment birders use to record bird vocalizations include:
- Shotgun microphones – focused microphones effective at long distances.
- Parabolic microphones – reflect and amplify sound into a microphone.
- Remote field recorders – portable devices to capture pristine nature recordings.
- Audio apps like BirdGenie – utilize AI to identify bird sounds.
Using equipment like this allows you to get clear, identifiable recordings of the mystery bird sound you want to figure out. You can often get much closer to a singing bird with specialized gear. However, this type of equipment does involve more specialized skill, time, and money to purchase.
Conclusion
Google can absolutely be used to research and listen to bird vocalizations to help identify bird species you don’t recognize by ear alone. There is a wealth of bird recordings available online through sites like Google, online databases, apps, YouTube, and social media. You can also create your own recordings using specialized audio gear. Listening carefully and comparing mystery sounds to multiple recordings will get you on the right track to identifying backyard birds by sound.
