Everyone wants to wake up to the melodious song of a bird at dawn. Humans have for longs admired and been inspired by the beautiful songs of birds and many works of literature and art appreciate this ability. However, not all birds have pleasing calls. Only some songbirds have the ability to “sing” and this is done mainly to attract mates during the breeding season. Here is a list of the best singing bird in the world.
Best Singing Birds In The World
1. Common Nightingale
Common Nightingale or simply Nightingale are small passerine birds known for their powerful melodic song and voice. It is slightly larger than European Robin and is 15 to 16.5 cm in length. Common Nightingale lives in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Their song is loud with various trills and whistles. They sing of the nightingale has been described as the most beautiful song of nature. It is said that Nightingale sings a song at dawn i.e. before sunrise to defend the bird’s territory. Male use to sing for longer times to attract females. Their necks are white with pale brown and reddish-brown plumage.
The nightingale is hailed as the best singing bird in many poems, ballads and stories. The name literally means night songstress and its song can be heard at dawn and at night. It is most common during the breeding and is the best singing bird because of the wide variety of notes, whistles, and tones it uses in its calls and makes over two hundred different types of melodies. The male nightingale sings to attract the female and the song can be heard over long distances. You must also know about the highest flying birds in the world.
2. Canary
Canary are small songbirds named after the place of their origin, the Canary island of Spain. They are a domesticated form of wild canary and belongs to the finch family. They were first bred in captivity in the 17th century and were brought to Europe by some Spanish sailors. The Spanish and English kings use to keep these birds as their pet due to their beautiful singing voice. They can learn the song notes they are taught. Their way of singing is unique. They sing throughout the year except for the summers when they stop singing. Male are better singers than females. They show the ability to learn even musical and instrumental notes.
This bird is popular because of its song and is also kept as a house pet for the same reason. It is usually yellow in color with black and white markings on its wings. They can imitate sounds they hear around them and so appear to “talk” which is why they have a place on the list of the best singing birds. They have been named after the place they were discovered in the Canary Islands in Spain. The male has a better sound than the females which it uses to attract a mate. The Canaries shed their feathers during the summer and do not sing during this season. Also, read about the most beautiful white birds in the world.
3. Asian Koel
One of the best singing birds, Asian Koel is a member of the cuckoo order of the family. Asian Koel is a brood parasite that lays its egg in the nests of crows and other birds who raise them up. Asian Koel is unusual among cuckoos as they are frugivorous. They measure 39-46 cm in length and weighs 190-327 grams. They sing in the breeding sing which is from March to August. Males have a typical call “ko-ooo” and they repeat the call for indefinite intervals while females make “Kik-Kik-Kik” like a call. The bird has got a huge significance in Indian poetry.
This common bird is a familiar sight in many cities in India. It is also found in other countries in Asia and Australia in semi-wooded areas. Their calls are most common during the breeding season and males and females have different calls. Males sing to attract mates as well to protect their territory from other males. They compete with other males by making successively louder calls till one of the tires out. Their birds are brood parasites and the females do not build nests of her own but lay eggs in the nests of other birds. The male is dark bluish-black while the female has brown feathers with a spotted pattern. One of the best singing birds in the world. We also recommend you to read about the incredible and amazing arctic birds.
4. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
It is a large attractive, seed-eating songbird native to the North-eastern United States and Canada. They have black and white color body with a dark red color triangle on its neck. It migrates to Tropical America in winters and breeds in cool-temperate North America. They are 18-22 cm long having a wingspan of 29-33 cm and weigh 35-65 grams. Male birds sit on the branches of the tree and sing while females sing during nest building and incubation.
Both males and females of this species have a beautiful song and use many different tones and notes. During the winter, these birds migrate south to Central and South America in search of food because it becomes scarce in the north during the winter. They migrate in large flocks and search for food together. However, due to deforestation and habitat destruction, their numbers are declining. It is also considered as one of the beautiful birds in the world.
5. American Robin
American Robin is widely distributed in North America and is a migratory songbird. In winters, it migrates from Southern Canada to Central Mexico and along the Pacific coast. During the daytime, they are very active and at night times they assemble in large groups. These birds sing at dawn time and they sing in discrete tones which they repeat several times during singing. They are brood parasite and they lay eggs in the nest of Robin. They are preyed upon by hawks, cats, and snakes. Robin is 23 to 28 cm in length and their Wingspan ranges from 31 to 41 cm. American Robin feeds on earthworms and insects. It is one of the most beautiful and best singing birds in the world.
This North American bird is fairly common and is known to inhabit parks and woodlands near urban spaces as well as forests. They have brown and greyish feathers on the body with a black head and orange-spotted underbelly. The female does not have such bright colors. The song of the male robin is more distinctive than the female and it consists of whistles and patterns of tones. These birds usually live in pine and coniferous forests as well as shrubs and mountainous regions. This makes them one of the best singing birds. It is considered as fascinating birds around the Earth.
6. Song Thrush
The song thrush is an active singing bird found in the region of Africa, Asia, and Europe. It breeds mostly in the region of Eurasia. It has brown plumage and black-spotted cream-colored underparts. Though they are not threatened globally there is a rapid decline in their population due to changes in farming practices. They have been named after their capability of singing a sweet song. These birds gather in groups at the top branches of trees and then they sing together. They weigh up to 110 grams and their length ranges from 8 to 9.5 inches. They mainly live in suburban gardens and woodlands.
Thrush is a broad category of songbirds under which many species of birds are included. Most thrushes are known for their sweet voice and distinctive calls that can be used to identify the species of the bird. The Song Thrush usually sings from the top of trees and uses three to four types of tones. They are very small birds weighing only 100 grams and they migrate long distances during different seasons. We have also listed small and cute birds in the world.
7. Channel-billed Cuckoo
Channel-billed cuckoo is the species of cuckoo in the family Cichlidae. It is the largest cuckoo and is also a brood parasite species in the world. With 1 meter as the length of their Wingspan, they are the largest parasite. They breed in subtropical regions of South Africa. During this period they make different arrival calls, which can be heard from half a kilometer away. They lay eggs in the nests of other birds. Fruits are a major source of their diet but they also prey on insects.
This Cuckoo is a large parasitic bird and with a wingspan of 1 meter, it is the largest bird of this kind. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea and migrates to Eastern Australia during the breeding season. They use their calls mainly during the breeding season to identify and attract mates. These calls can be heard from over 500 meters away and when many birds are present in the same area, each one uses a slightly different tone to help mates identify them. This makes them one of the best singing birds in the world. Females do not build nests but lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.
8. House Sparrow
House sparrow is a bird from the sparrow family, found in almost all regions of the world. Its length is about 16 cm and a mass of about 24 to 39.5 grams. Their plumage is brown and grey. Males have brighter black, brown and white markings. The male’s bill is black in the breeding season and horn during other seasons. They are often kept as a pet. They are social birds and have a strong association with human settlements. They feed on insects, birds, and seeds. Females produce soft notes when they see males birds around them. They even make alarm songs which sound like “quer….quer…..quer”. House sparrows take full care to protect their nests.
The House Sparrow or Common Sparrow is known to everyone since it lives near and in human habitations. All of us have at some point or the other wake up to the song of a sparrow. Male and female sparrows have slightly different calls and males usually use their voice to attract mates while females respond to male calls. They are very protective of their nests and attack any predators who try to invade it. Their diet consists mainly of small fruits, grains, and insects. House is considered to be one of the best singing birds in the world.
9. Black-billed magpie
It is also known as American Magpie belongs to the “crow” family. They are native to the western half of North America. They have taller tails that make the half-length of the total body. The nest of American bird is made of twigs located at the top branches of trees. They build a dome-shaped nest. Their breeding starts from March to July and they lay 6-7 eggs at a time. They make loud chattering in “work-wockqueg-squeg-queue”. These birds have the ability to mimic the sound of other birds.
These birds are common in most parts of the world and make frequent calls; which means that this sound is fairly common in tree-covered areas. They have a black and white body with blue-green markings on the wings and they live in large flocks and usually nest near the ground on small trees or shrubs. Black-billed magpies are unique because they can mimic the sounds made by other birds. Magpies avoid flying long distances and search for food near their nests. They are monogamous and mate with the same partner throughout their lives.
10. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
They have brownish-black plumage with the yellowtail band and yellow patches on their cheeks. Males and females can be distinguished by their physical appearance as they have different body colors. They have a loud eerie wailing cry that can travel long distances. Wood-boring grubs and seeds made up their diet. They make high pitched contact calls like “kee-ow kee-ow”. The people of south-eastern Australia are familiar with these loud sounds. They make harsh calls in danger and soft calls while searching for food.
This bird looks very distinctive and is common in South-Eastern Australia. It has black feathers on the body and yellow marking on the tail, thus giving it its name. The habitat is mostly woodland areas and these birds are frequently found around human habitations. They are social birds and travel together for food in groups of four to five and use the peculiar call to communicate with each other. Though their song is normally soothing, when threatened by the presence of a predator, they give out harsh alarm calls to alarm other birds. It is also one of the smartest talking birds in the world. You must also know about the most intelligent and smartest animals in the world.
11. Budgerigar
Budgerigar also has known as a budgie is a small parrot species that belongs to the tribe of the wide-tailed parrots. They are so-called by the name parakeets mostly in American English. It means types of small parrots with long flat tails. The parrot species is native to drier parts of Australia and it is believed that they are over for 5 million years. It is one of the famous pets and intelligent birds that can easily mimic human voices. One of the best signing birds, can grow up to 18 cm long and weighs around 30–40 grams.
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12. Tanager
The bird species was first spotted in the US in the year 1985, however, it is a rare visitor in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains. One of the best singing birds mostly seen on the treetops and it can be as high as 75 feet. IT stays at Canada’s Northwest Territories for two months before they headed over to the South. It is believed that the scarlet tanager could eat 2,000 gypsy moth caterpillars in an hour, however, later it came to be a false statement instead they help to do help control pests.
So these are the best singing birds in the world. As you may have noticed, the male usually has a better voice and can make louder calls than the female bird. This is mainly because the male tries to attract mates while the female chooses the best among the available males. The calls of all songbirds are very prominent during their breeding season and this is the best time to go in search of these birds.