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Any opportunity to eke out a popular trend just to get some content, why ever not.
Unless you’ve been trapped under a rock or subscribe to Apple Music instead, you’ll likely know by know that TODAY is a momentous occasion. The annual tradition of Spotify Wrapped being released is a perfect opportunity to properly peacock all over social media about all the obscure bands that you’ve been glued to for the past twelve months. A true statement of culture to hang like a banner to prove that you aren’t a real philistine after all. You know, as long as your list doesn’t rank Adele, Ed Sheeran and The Beatles at the top. Music is like serotonin gasoline but as we’ve urbanised and industrialised, we have left behind the original musicians that first filled our ears. The natural world’s ultimate choristers - birds. They deserve to have their place on everyone’s Top Fives but sadly, it’s difficult to sign species up to record labels.
In the UK, we’re blessed with an array of musical talents, from Stormzy to The Spice Girls. The birding landscape is equally as diverse and captivating, trust me. Without further ado, here are my own picks for Britain’s Best Birding Singers.
Chiffchaff
No messing around with this list, I’ve gone in with the big guns early. One of our most frequently-found warblers is the eponymous chiffchaff, branded by their simple but instantly recognisable song. Whilst it’s not a complex epic, it’s well-loved for being a breath of fresh spring air. A signpost out of winter gloom, delivering a fragment of hope that frosts and roaring fireplaces are done for a while. Its song is both gentle and bouncy, the ideal summer-bound tonic. Woodlands in spring are not the same without the refreshing fluted tones of the chiffchaff. Always one to tick off in March.
Wren
Size genuinely doesn’t matter. Our most widely-found bird species is rarely seen but definitely heard. A bit like Prince in his prime. I wouldn’t be surprised if people have been admitted to hospital with burst eardrums after getting a wren song straight at them. The dainty brown sopranos love nothing more than finding a rocky outcrop or bush top before reeling out their musical number. The song is interspersed with both melodious trilling and rapid fire sections, akin to a feathered machine gun. For a bird that weighs as much as a coin, they don’t half pack a punch. This description probably doesn’t give them justice but trust me, they produce an absolute banger.
Blackbird
Close your eyes and imagine a sunny morning in the countryside. You see a thatched cottage draped in ivy, soaked in sunshine. Without knowing it, you probably imagine the song of the blackbird. Their song is the audio embodiment of pastoral England and is as glorious as it is inspirational. Don’t believe me? Ask Paul McCartney. In amongst the medley of a dawn chorus, blackbirds stand out heads and wings above all others. The best word to describe their song: warming. Their joyous renditions are the soundtrack of spring and summer. It’s not a rare or elusive species, but I’d firmly rank them as an underrated classic.
Song Thrush
What an apt name. Not wrong though. What the song thrush lacks in form, it makes up in variety of different tones. Sticking to one genre isn’t what they’re all about and instead of sticking to the hymn sheet, they’re considered more of a freestyler. Rather than one repetitive set over and over, song thrushes prefer to exclaim entire albums over the course of a day. The random assortment of mimicked calls and sharp bleats can sometimes come across as sombre, especially on a summers day. Their acclaim mostly comes from their astounding range, the mark of a true musical genius. It’s a quirky yet acquired taste, perhaps not for everyone. Talented though? Absolutely.
Nightingale
No contest. Hands down, the GOAT. Take the musical acumen of the blackbird, sprinkle in the chaos of the song thrush and add a pinch of jeopardy and you have the perfect birdsong. The nightingale’s song has evoked poetry and music for centuries, inspiring Homer, Shakespeare and Keats. It’s an astonishing mish-mash that wouldn’t sound out of place in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. The nightingale is also the outlier in this list, given their precarious conservation status in the UK. It’s not a song that stirs nostalgia like the others, because no one heard it very often growing up. Today, it’s a diminishing tune owing to the dispersal of our woodlands, a crying shame. A song to cherish not only for its vibrant content but also what it stands for. Operatic, emphatic, iconic.
It’s impossible to disagree but what birds did I miss? Would you rank anyone else higher?
Bird is the word.
