Skip to main content

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Get our e-news!

Sign up

small nav

  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our History
    • Contact Us
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Partners
    • Business Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Bylaws
    • Policies
    • Conservation Center
    • Employment
  • log in
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Main menu

  • What we do
    • Land Conservation
    • Education & Events
    • Advocacy
    • Forestry & Recreation
    • News & Features
    • Forest Notes & More Publications
  • Current Projects
    • Mahoosuc Highlands, Shelburne
    • Kelley Forest Addition, Gilmanton
    • Morse Preserve Additions, Alton
    • Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign
    • Champlin Forest Addition, Rochester
    • Mount Major Stewardship Fund
    • Welch-Kulish Stewardship Fund
    • Recent Accomplishments
  • Visit & Explore
    • The Rocks
    • Conservation Center
    • Mount Major
    • Creek Farm
    • Forest Reservation Guide
    • Visitor Use Guidelines
  • Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
    • Membership/Renewal
    • Support Our Work
    • Take Action
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Search

Search form

Donate
Menu

News

  • The submersible lifestyle of aquatic turtles

    Dave Anderson, Ellen Kenny
    June 23, 2022

    By latter June and for most of the summer, snapping turtles are aquatic, rarely leaving water.

  • Forestry Friday: Using Invasive Species as a Learning Tool

    Gabe Roxby
    June 8, 2022

    Caterpillars can be a great opportunity to introduce young children to the wonders of the natural world.

  • Forest Journal: A Few More Days of Morel Season

    Carrie Deegan
    May 25, 2022

    There is one mushroom that bucks the seasonal trend, sprouting brazenly in spring with enough chutzpah to drive the local mushroom enthusiasts crazy: the morel.

Something Wild: How to remember bird songs

Dave Anderson, Chris Martin, Jessica Hunt
June 3, 2022
Wildlife
The team sits on a bench on the floodplain in spring.
The Something Wild team found song birds and recorded sound at the Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Recreation Area. Left to right: Chris Martin, Jessica Hunt, and Dave Anderson. (Photo: Sophie Oehler)

Birds are singing everywhere this time of year, making it a great time to practice identifying birds by their songs and calls.

A black capped chickadee sits on a branch budding in spring.
Black capped Chickadee. (Photo: Tracy Lee Carroll)

Hearing the bird song in the field and then learning the random human alliteration of lyrics creates an indelible impression of the song in your memory. These mnemonic phrases are a kind of birding folklore passed down from generations of birders.

Trust us: You are going to want to listen to this episode! Chris Martin and Dave Anderson test their bird song knowledge with mnemonic phrases.

Here are some of Anderson's favorite mnemonic bird phrases:

  • American Redstart – “Seets-seets-seets-seets Seee-OH”
  • Robin – “cheer-up, cheerily, cheerio”
  • Cardinal – “birdie birdie birdie, whoit, whoit, whoit, pupeeto, pupeeto, pupeeto!”
  • Chickadee – “Spring’s Here!”
  • Phoebe – “Fee-breet! Phoebe-dee-beet”
  • Tufted Titmouse – “Peter, Peter” or “Right HERE!” or “Wheat-EAR”
  • Red or White breasted nuthatch – “Yank, yank, yank”
  • Song Sparrow - “Maids, Maids Pleeeease – Put on the Teeeea Kettle”
  • White Throated Sparrow “Oh Poor Sam Peabody- Peabody-Peabody” or “Oh Sweet Canada-Canada-Canada!”
  • Rufous-sided Towee – “DRINK your Teeea!”
  • Vireos - “Here I am. Look at me. I’m up here. In a tree” or “I’m up here. I am green. Where are you?”
  • Yellow Warbler – “Sweet Sweet Sweeter than sweet!”
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler – “Pleased pleased pleased to meet choo” or “See see see Miss Beach-er”
  • Ovenbird – A very emphatic “Teacher teacher teacher! TEACHER! TEACHER!”
  • Common yellowthroat – “Witch-ity witch-ity, witch-ity.”
  • Black and white warbler – “Wee-see, wee-see, wee-see”

To learn more, visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library of Sound. You can listen to bird calls from all over the world, using your smartphone or computer.

Listen to audio at NHPR here:

Download the Forest Society Mobile App, powered by OuterSpatial

Footer menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
Land Trust Alliance accreditation logo