Ten fabulous dawn choruses to celebrate International Dawn Chorus day, 2 May 2021
Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus Dalton Highway, Alaska, USA, 15 June 2004 (René Pop).
To celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day 2021, we present you with 26 minutes of dawn chorus recordings from four continents. We have strung them all together for continuous listening. They are in order of latitude, from north to south, taking you from a thawing Canadian tundra to Ghanaian savannah not long after the rainy season.
0:00 – 1:54
05:32, tundra on Victoria island, Nunavut, Canada, 23 June 2016
Dawn chorus dominated by Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus, also featuring Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii, Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons, Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii, Pectoral Sandpiper C melanotos, Semipalmated Sandpiper C pusilla, Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus and Red Phalarope P fulicarius (Magnus Robb).
1:56 – 3:13
06:54, taiga near Kuusamo, Lapland, Finland, 8 June 2010
Dawn chorus subdued to some extent by a Northern Hawk Owl Surnia ulula, also featuring Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla, Northern Raven Corvus corax, Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus, Song Thrush Turdus philomelos, Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata, Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus and Glip Crossbill Loxia curvirostra type C (Dick Forsman).
3:15 – 6:40
04:07, moorland near Finstown, Orkney, Scotland, 7 June 2010
Dawn chorus featuring Eurasian Curlew, with a background of Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus, Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago, Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis, Common Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia, Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes, Song Thrush Turdus philomelos and Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis (Magnus Robb).
6:42 – 9:13
05:00, moorland close to Caledonian forest, Badenoch and Strathspey, Scotland, 23 March 2002
Twelve male Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix arrive to lek at dawn. In the distance there are Red Grouse Lagopus scoticus and Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis (Magnus Robb).
9:15 – 12:14
05:30, deciduous woodland at Kuligi, Podlaskie, Poland, 21 June 2005
A Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops sends bright pulses through the wood, resonating over Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus, Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Common Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla, Great Tit Parus major, Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix, Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea, Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes and Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. Far off in the distance you may be able to pick out a Corn Crake Crex crex and a Eurasian Crane Grus grus (Magnus Robb).
12:16 – 16:05
05:52, scrubland at Duin en Kruidberg, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 25 April 2020
Dawn chorus in coastal dunes with a very high density of Common Nightingales Luscinia megarhynchos. In the background, Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, Willow Warbler P trochilus, Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis and Common Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia (Arnoud B van den Berg).
16:07 – 17:46
04:16, riparian woodland near the river Waal, Gelderland, Netherlands, 3 June 2020
In June, dawn can be reasonably warm. As a half-moon gradually fades in the sky a Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum sings of its worldly travels. Mimicry in its song includes, remarkably, Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus (the lower-pitched sounds from 16:22 – 16:32), Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis (eg, 17:28, 17:30, 17:32) and Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica (17:37 – 17:46). In the background are Common Cuckoo Cucuclus canorus and a chorus of Pool Frogs Pelophylax lessonae (Arnoud B van den Berg). For more about these amazing singers and how to identify them, see our recent article.
17:48 – 20:10
04:30, riparian woodland near Wareham, Dorset, England, 22 May 2019
Dawn chorus dominated by Song Thrush Turdus philomelos, with Canada Goose Branta canadensis, Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus, Goldcrest Regulus regulus, Common Blackbird T merula and European Robin Erithacus rubecula (Magnus Robb).
20:12 – 23:08
05:33, scrubland near Jizan Wadi Dam, Jizan, Saudi Arabia, 6 July 2019
A dawn chorus of White-browed Coucals Centropus superciliosus, with African Collared Dove Streptopelia risoria, Laughing Dove S senegalensis and White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis (Jem Babbington).
23:10 – 26:16
05:30, savannah and a small creek with Nile Crocodiles, Mole National Park, Savannah region, Ghana, 15 November 2019
A diverse dawn chorus dominated by Northern Black Flycatcher Melaenornis edolioides and Vinaceous Dove Streptopelia vinacea, with an extensive background chorus including Black-billed Wood Dove Turtur abyssinicus, Western Banded Snake Eagle Circaetus cinerascens, Broad-billed Roller Eurystomus glaucurus, Senegal Parrot Poliocephalus senegalus, Yellow-crowned Gonolek Laniarius barbatus, African Blue Flycatcher Elminia longicauda, Yellow-breasted Apalis Apalis flavida, Oriole Warbler Hypergerus atriceps, Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus and Long-tailed Glossy Starling Lamprotornis caudatus (Magnus Robb, with thanks to William Apraku for help with identification).