Top 10 Songbirds
Songbirds create sounds that resemble human music - sounds that are melodious to the human ear.Usually the males can sing or both sexes can sing but as a rule, males sing better because males had to put more effort in singing to attract females/mates - to impress females, to show off...
The organ that makes singing possible is called syrinx, something similar to the human larynx.
Some birds hatch knowing the songs they will sing as adults and they don't need to learn the songs.
But some songbirds (the catbirds, thrashers, mockingbirds) even learn to mimic other species - frogs, cats, and... car alarms.
I like both music and birds and this list combines them: singing birds!
Who are the best singers among the birds?
Their sounds/songs have been imitated the most (mainly in classical music but not only)
One of the species, Wood Thrush, has some singing skills that even Pavarotti didn't have:
1) it can sing two different notes at once!
It is possible because each side of the syrinx (bird larynx) is independently controlled, allowing birds to produce two unrelated pitches at once. Wow, it's like lead and backing vox coming simultaneously from one throat.
2) the Wood Thrush can also sing rising AND falling notes simultaneously!
3) its song ends with one of the most complex sounds a bird can create.
Wow, I want this singer in my band!
Domestic canary is one of the most popular pets, and one of the reasons is that they can sing.
Female canaries prefer males who sing faster and with a wider range of pitches (ha, female canaries prefer canary metal singers! )
Its vocal acrobatics aren't for everyone! (some power metal singers come close to it but it's still not the same).
Northern Cardinals can switch sides of their syrinx! They can sweep through more notes than are on a piano keyboard in just a tenth of a second!
Because each branch of their syrinx is individually controlled, the cardinals can start the sweeping notes with one side of the syrinx and seamlessly switch to the other side without stopping for a breath!
Wow, most of the human singers have to learn how to breathe properly while singing!
It creates impressive flutelike vocal effects by pitch sweeps and mini-trills: at quarter speed it sounds exactly like a flute. These hidden complexities in its songs were revealed thanks to spectrograms.
Veery is a thrush species and the thrush family are amazing singers.
Yellow Warblers are classic songbirds.
It can sing two sweeping tones at the same time (same as the Wood Thrush and Canary).
It has one of the largest repertoires in the bird world - over 1,000 song types!
They even sing in regional dialects! (their songs have significant regional variations).
White-throated Sparrows, for example, have to learn their songs while still in the nest, listening to the adults' songs.
It is a member of the cuckoo order of birds.
The male in the image sings like there's no tomorrow!
Only males sing.