Bird Song Quiz

1. At dusk, you hear rich, mellow, flute-like phrases delivered at an unhurried pace, with a short pause between phrases. Which bird is the likely singer?

2. On a cold winter evening, a wistful, fluid song comes from a garden shrub beneath a streetlight. Which familiar bird is especially likely to sing at this time of year?

3. Which bird gives the familiar rhythmic coo commonly represented by the five-part mnemonic “take two cows, Taffy”?

4. A garden bird mixes twittering phrases with a distinctive long, nasal, wheezing note. Which bird should you look for?

5. What is the best general distinction between a bird’s song and its calls?

6. A slim brown-and-grey bird near a hedge delivers a short, thin, fast warble with a fairly even flow rather than repeated song-thrush phrases. Which bird best matches?

7. From a rooftop comes an unpredictable sequence of whistles, clicks, rattles, and convincing imitations of other birds. Which garden visitor is known for this vocal mimicry?

8. Which British garden bird is famous for a clear, repeated two-note song often written as “teacher-teacher”?

9. You hear a repeated two-note “see-saw” pattern resembling a great tit but generally faster and higher. The small singer is in a conifer and shows a pale patch on the back of its head. Which bird is it?

10. You hear quick, liquid, tinkling notes—including a repeated phrase sometimes rendered “ticke-lit”—from birds gathered near treetops. Which species is the best match?

11. Which bird has a characteristic high song that often begins with two or three clear “tsee” notes and runs into a rapid trill?

12. An exceptionally loud, rapid burst of notes and trills comes from a tiny brown bird hidden low in dense vegetation. Which bird best fits the clue?

13. Which familiar garden bird relies mainly on repeated chirps and chirruping phrases rather than the flowing, elaborate song of a blackbird or robin?

14. One bird sings short musical phrases and typically repeats each phrase several times before switching to a new one. Which species is this characteristic of?

15. A repetitive three-part coo, with the middle syllable stressed, comes from a bird perched on a garden aerial. Which bird is the likely source?

16. A bird in a garden tree repeatedly sings two alternating notes that sound like its own name: “chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff.” Which bird is it?