The dawn chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day. In temperate countries this is most noticeable in spring when the birds are either defending a breeding territory, trying to attract a mate or calling in the flock. In a given location it is common for different species to do their dawn singing at different times. In a study of the Ecuadorian forest, it was determined that birds perching higher in the trees and birds with larger eyes tend to pipe up first.Jamieson, Barrie Gillean Molyneux (editor) (2007) ''Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Birds: Sexual selection, behavior, conservation, embryology, genetics'' (Part B of ''Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Birds'') Science Publishers, Enfield, New Hampshire, page 183, These correlations may be caused by the fact that both would also correlate with the amount of

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

perceived by the bird. Moller used a play-back technique to investigate the effects of singing by the

black wheatear The black wheatear (''Oenanthe leucura'') is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of the Muscicapidae. This l ...

(''Oenanthe leucura'') on the behaviour of both

conspecifics Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

and heterospecifics. It was found that singing increased in both groups in response to the wheatear. Moller suggested the dawn (and dusk) chorus of bird song may be augmented by

social facilitation Social facilitation is a social phenomenon in which being in the presence of others improves individual task performance. That is, people do better on tasks when they are with other people rather than when they are doing the task alone. Situation ...

due to the singing of conspecifics as well as heterospecifics. In some territories where bird life is extensive and birds are vocal, the sound of a dawn chorus may make it difficult for humans to sleep in the early morning.

International Dawn Chorus Day

An annual International Dawn Chorus Day is held on the first Sunday in MayIDCD.info
/ref> when the public are encouraged to rise early to listen to bird song at organised events. The first ever was held at

Moseley Bog Moseley Bog and Joy's Wood Local Nature Reserve, formerly The Dell, is a Local Nature Reserve in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England, with an area of about 12 ha (29 acres). History There are burnt mounds on the banks of the Coldbath Brook, ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, in 1984, organized by the Urban Wildlife Trust (now The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country).

New Zealand

Early explorers and European settlers noted that the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

forest had a loud dawn chorus. This is no longer the case owing to extensive loss of forests, the introduction of bird predators and competing species such as wasps. The bellbird and the tui are two of the birds that would have formed part of the dawn chorus since they have a vocal and melodious call.

United Kingdom

In the UK the dawn chorus may begin as early as 3am in early summer. The most often heard species of birds are, in order of their beginning to sing: * Blackbird * Robin *

Eurasian wren The Eurasian wren (''Troglodytes troglodytes'') or northern wren is a very small insectivorous bird, and the only member of the wren family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa (Maghreb). In Anglophone Europe, it is commonly known simply ...

Tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, an ...

Chaffinch The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...

Common pheasant The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'', "pheasant". The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for "of Colchis" (modern day Geor ...

Warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

, including

blackcap The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sma ...

, chiffchaff,

garden warbler The garden warbler (''Sylvia borin'') is a common and widespread small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to western Siberia. It is a plain, long-winged and long-tailed typical warbler with brown upperparts and dull whit ...

and

willow warbler The willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly ...

Song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, ...

Greenfinch The greenfinches are small passerine birds in the genus ''Chloris'' in the subfamily Carduelinae within the Fringillidae. The species have a Eurasian distribution except for the European greenfinch, which also occurs in North Africa. These finc ...

Dunnock The dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is by far the most widespread member of th ...

* Goldfinch File:Common Blackbird by Marco Hebing.jpg,

Common blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird where this does not ...

File:European Robin aka.jpg,

European robin The European robin (''Erithacus rubecula''), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in Great Britain & Ireland, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that belongs to the chat subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family. About in len ...

File:Troglodytes troglodytes fumigatus, Japan.jpg,

File:Tawny wiki edit1.jpg,

File:Chaffinch 2.jpg,

Common chaffinch The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...

File:Common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) male 2.jpg,

File:Sylvia atricapilla male 2.jpg,

Blackcap The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sma ...

File:Phylloscopus collybita (taxobox).jpg, Chiffchaff File:Willow warbler UK09.JPG,

Willow warbler The willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly ...

File:Song Thrush-Mindaugas Urbonas.jpg,

File:European Greenfinch female.jpg,

File:Dunnock crop2.jpg,

File:De Stieglitz lat Carduelis carduelis.jpg, Goldfinch

United States

The dawn chorus may also be heard in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

{{Reflist

External links