"Most of us can see, but not everyone looks. Most of us can hear, but not everyone listens. This book will help you do both. And, above all, it will tell you how to enjoy." Bill Oddie "He'll tune your ears to winter's lonely voices - robins, wrens, long-tailed tits - before preparing you for the exultant sounds of spring." The Times Learning to identify birdsong is not just a way to become a better bird-spotter. It is tuning in: a way of hearing the soundtrack of Planet Earth... Why do birds sing? What are they trying to say? Birdsong is not just about natural history. It is also about our history. We got melody from birds as we got rhythm from the womb. This vital book, with an accompanying podcast available online, takes you from winter into deepest spring, teaching you how to recognise song after song as the chorus swells. Beginning with the thin, soft song of the robin and ending with the life-affirming melody of nightingales. Along the way, you will learn the science of birdsong the difference between song and call, the physiology of songbirds, what birdsong tells us about evolution, and indeed the very beginnings of life itself. The aim is to give you a flying start in birdsong so that, after reading this book, you'll be listening to order, not chaos, to Bach, not white noise. You will be more aware of the wild world, and better able to understand it. Accompanying podcast link provided in the book

Table of Contents:
First Winter 1 Muzak to my ears 3 Songs of life and death 5 Robin 8 Double figures 12 A place of my own 16 Wren 19 Talking birds 22 Pee-oo! 26 How to see round corners 28 Dunnock 31 Time and space 33 Birdsong to save your life 37 Long-tailed tit 40 First Spring 45 How to make spring last longer 47 Great tit 50 Keeping it simple 52 Song thrush 54 Get a load of that repertoire 58 Chaffinch 62 Saying your own name 64 Blue tit 67 Great spotted woodpecker 69 How we stole the music 72 Blackbird 76 When the singing began 80 Greenfinch 84 How I invented music 86 Skylark 89 A breath of fresh air 92 Blithe spirit 94 Chiffchaff 99 Crisis relocation 102 Cuckoo 106 Last cuckoo? 109 Swallow 111 Vertebrate chauvinism 114 Pigeons 117 Why warblers 122 Blackcap 126 Demise of the willow wren 129 Willow warbler 133 First Year Birdlistening 137 Turn on, tune in 139 Seagulls 142 Herring gull 144 Swift 147 And now your free gift 150 Seaside waders 154 Hello 158 Crows 161 Bleeding obvious 165 Two more crows 169 World Cup birding 172 Freshwater birds 175 But does it really count? 178 Geese 183 Song of the butterfly 186 Birds of prey 188 Silence 191 Owls 195 Winter thrushes 199 Second Spring 203 Birds and Venice 205 Mistle thrush 209 Starling 212 Learning curve 215 Mozart's starling 218 Goldcrest 221 Green woodpecker 223 Portrait of the artist 225 Goldfinch 231 Yellowhammer 234 The rhythmician 236 Nuthatch 239 Coal tit 241 Rhythm section 243 Pied wagtail 246 Meadow pipit 248 Peasant and phartridge 250 Be happy! 252 House martin 254 Garden warbler 256 Whitethroat 258 Nightingale 260 Heartache 265 Sweet music 270