NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Matthew Medler of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about the best bird sounds of 2025 from their vast collection of recordings, and why their selections made the list.

“I’m… so… tired.” One September morning, you’ll hear those three plaintive, descending notes emerge from the edge of the yard, a new sound in this quiet ...

A hummingbird’s heart beats over 1,200 times per minute, while the great egret hunts with precision unmatched in shallow ...

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a male Mockingbird may learn up to 200 songs in its lifetime. Like the Nightingale, it is the lonely bachelor, the unmated male, who sings all night, often ...

One rainy morning a week ago, I hear a beautiful bird song that I cannot quite identify. It’s longish, sweet and melodic. From in the bedroom, I glance over at the feeders and there’s the usual ...

A bird that sounds like a horse? Or how about a wild laugh overheard at a cocktail party? The owner of these unusual sounds is an 8-inch secretive marsh bird called a “sora.” Because I work at ...