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Telling Apart Two Cheery Bird Songs
Robins and orioles can sound pretty similar at first.
© Steve Byland and spates on Flickr
The American Robin and the Baltimore Oriole both have cheery, upbeat songs. At first, you might think there’s no way to tell these two singers apart. But there are a couple of differences. American Robins usually have a longer song, while Baltimore Orioles usually stop after a phrase or two. Plus, Baltimore Orioles sound sweeter and more melodic than American Robins, who can come across a little screechy at times.
This episode is brought to you by Wild Delight Bird Food, which aims to support wild bird populations with clean, nutritious ingredients in every blend. Available at Chewy.com.
BirdNote®
Telling Apart Two Cheery Bird Songs
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[American Robin song]
American Robins begin piping up in late winter and then sing all through spring and summer, sometimes well into fall, too. One way to remember their song’s pattern is with the words, “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up!”
[American Robin song]
The Baltimore Oriole has a pretty similar song. At first, you might think there’s no way to tell these two cheery, upbeat singers apart.
[Baltimore Oriole song]
But there are a couple of differences. The robin has that whole sentence to say: “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up!”
[American Robin song]
In contrast, the oriole usually stops after a phrase or two.
[Baltimore Oriole song]
After a while you might start to hear more subtle distinctions. Baltimore Orioles sound sweeter, more melodic than American Robins, who can come across a little screechy at times.
Once more, here’s the long-winded robin:
[American Robin song]
And the short and sweet oriole:
[Baltimore Oriole song]
Listen for these sweet singers wherever you get your birdsong.
[Baltimore Oriole song]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
This episode is brought to you by Wild Delight Bird Food, which aims to support wild bird populations with clean, nutritious ingredients in every blend. Available at Chewy.com
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Robin ML168300 recorded by Wil Hershberger, and Baltimore Oriole ML220774 recorded by Bob McGuire.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote February 2024 / March 2026
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# AMRO-BAOL-01-2024-02-12 AMRO-BAOL-01
Michael Stein
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
