This is Bird Note.

Birder and author Christian Cooper says,

Listening to Birds helped him unlock a kind of superpower.

It's very exciting because it's like you have a sixth sense that most people don't have.

You know, I'm walking through a park on my way to the gym.

I am not looking or paying on my way to the gym. I am not

looking or paying attention to birds, except I am, because I always am, and my ears are

telling me, oh, the white-throated sparrows are back just from hearing their call notes.

Birding by ear is a skill that takes time, but you'll start to recognize patterns.

Christian says pneumonics are a great way to remember bird calls.

Some birds have well-known mnemonics, like the, oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada.

Of the white-throated sparrow.

And...

The flight call of the American Goldfinch,

potato chip!

Potato chip!

But if those don't work for you, make up your own.

One of the things I really love doing is making the connections like I call the Blue Jay, the Rihanna Bird, because Rihanna has a song, Shut Up and Drive, where one of the parts of the song is where she goes, so if you want me, let me know, no, no, and I hear that, and I'm like, well, that's the same thing a Blue Jay does, what it's called.

It's not just a flat sound.

It drops at the end.

So it's going, yank, yank, yank.

So with your favorite, let me know.

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