Secret Messages in Birdsong?

BirdNote^®
The Secret Messages in Birdsong?
Written by Mark Bramhill

This is BirdNote.

Birds’ songs and calls convey lots of messages — from “this is my territory” to “I’m looking for a mate” to “there’s a predator nearby!”

[Black-capped Chickadee “dee-dee-dee” call, ML199076]

But did you know that some birds’ songs contain secret messages? Like this sweet-singing Eastern Bluebird:

[Eastern Bluebird song, ML534419]

Bluebirds benefit from people putting up homes for them in the spring. In fact, when you reverse that song, you can hear:

[Reversed Eastern Bluebird song, plus a person saying “NESTBOXES…  SET UP… NESTBOXES”]

Oh, those little scamps! Or this familiar cry of the Canada Goose:

[Canada Goose call, ML53519641]

If we play that backwards…

[Reversed Canada Goose call, plus person saying “DO GEESE SEE GOD?”]

I guess that one’s a bit more of a thinker.

And of course, the tricky Blue Jay:

[Blue Jay call, ML84793]

Play that in reverse, and you get…

[Reversed Blue Jay call, plus person saying “APRIL FOOLS!”]

Learn more about the incredible — and real — abilities of birds at our website, BirdNote.org.

I’m Mark Bramhill. [This is narrated in reverse, then played backwards over reversed BirdNote theme music]

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: 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. Black-capped Chickadee ML199076 recorded by Bob McGuire. Blue Jay ML84793 recorded by Wil Hershberger. Canada Goose ML53519641 recorded by Jay McGowan. Eastern Bluebird ML534419 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote April 2025
Narrator: Mark Bramhill

ID# aprilfools-05-2025-04-01    aprilfools-05