In  a poll of 2,000 people birdsong was chosen ahead of church bells, WW2 sirens, dog barking and alarm tunes. A spokesperson for the RSPB said

the human is naturally atuned to birdsong, which is why many people find it a gentle and enjoyable sound to wake up to.

Isn’t it such a shame that the digital radio station Birdsong FM close down last year?

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Birdsong Is Favourite Alarm Call

I think we’ll get our children involved – they’ll enjoy doing it and we’ll have some fun too.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Big Garden Birdwatch RSPB

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Bill Oddies Little Black Bird Book

If you’ve never heard of it, Birdsong FM replaced a defunct digital radio station called OneWord. All you’d here on Birdsong FM was a repeated 20 minute recording of singing garden birds. That was it all day long, every day from 6am til midnight. It was great as unobtrusive background noise. I tended to listen to it on and off over the winter because in the summer I just open the window and listen to the real thing.

The station had something of a cult following and was often popular in such places as doctors waiting rooms and even prisons! There are now many calls for Birdsong FM to be brought back though I can’t see how it can fund itself unless it contains adverts or attracts a good sponsorship deal.

Let’s hope it’s back on our airwaves soon.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Birdsong FM Has Closed

Some interesting facts about swifts:

• Swifts pair for life
• They return from Africa to the UK each spring to the same nest sites
• They spend alomost their entire life on the wing
• They eat, mate and even sleep in flight.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Swift Population Declining

They have had reported cases of:

• adult owls attacked by groups of crows
• tawny owl chicks attacked and killed by larger birds
• increasing cases of birds being attacked by domestic cats, crows or gulls.

I’ve no idea if this rise in attacks is unique to Scotland or whether England and Wales are seeing similar increases too.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Rise In Bird Attacks

RSPB Membership offers FREE entry to over 100 nature reserves across the country and aFREE quarterly magazine that’s packed with amazing photos of birds and wildlife plus news and views on nature and the environment. What’s more, people can also choose a FREE joining gift to give to their Dad, Grandad . or perhaps even keep for themselves!

Right now, if someone buys RSPB Membership online, they can choose either the RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife (until 30 June), the RSPB Handbook of British Birds or a qualityRSPB seed feeder to help attract birds to the garden!

Join here

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

RSPB Membership Offer

Richard James from the RSPB says:

Many people think that they are helping by placing stray chicks in a box, some greenery or back in the nest they came from. But they could be killing them with kindness and it’s vital that the chicks remain untouched.

Although they sit there looking vunerable and sounding distressed you can be sure that the adult birds will be close by and they will know what to do.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Don’t Rescue Young Birds

A survey of the garden bird across Britain has shown that in urban and city areas that are quite noisy the birds pitch their songs higher than in quieter, rural areas. When recordings were played to birds from differing urban and rural locations the birds failed to respond to the recorded songs.

The scientists suggest that male great tit birds pitch their songs higher to be heard over the urban noise.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Town Birds No Match For Country Flock

Birds ringed here have been found in places such as:

• Siberia
• Canadian Arctic
• Australia
• Gambia (caught by a crocodile)

For more information visit the BTO bird ringing page.

Post from: BirdBoxes.org

Centenary of Bird Tagging