GELLERMAN: Well let us now return to more natural sounds….here’s this week’s BirdNote®.

GELLERMAN: Since most birds are social creatures they greet the day with a song. It’s a neighborly way of saying good morning. But the tune depends on the type of bird and time of year. Here’s BirdNote®’s Michael Stein.

STEIN: This rollicking song belongs to a Black-headed Grosbeak.

STEIN: Like most birds, the male grosbeak begins singing in earnest a few days after reaching his traditional nesting grounds in spring.

STEIN: And, like most birds, he sings frequently when trying to attract a mate. He’ll sing a bit less while he and his mate incubate eggs, but pick up the pace again after the young hatch.

STEIN: By late summer, his singing will cease. Ever wonder how much a bird sings in one day? Some patient observers have shown that a typical songbird belts out its song between 1,000 and 2,500 times per day. Even though most bird songs last only a few seconds, that’s a lot of warbling! On nights with a full moon, male Sage Thrashers have been known to proclaim their long-winded songs all night.

STEIN: But the North American record-holder may well be the Red-eyed Vireo. One such vireo delivered its short song over 22,000 times in ten hours!

STEIN: I’m Michael Stein.

GELLERMAN: To see some photos of the birds whose praises we sang, wing it to our website LOE dot org.

GELLERMAN: Be sure to check out our website for a new feature we call Living on Earth Now: regular updates, news stories and features. Check out the one about the latest research into manmade earthquakes! That’s LOE dot org. And coming up - a world gone wild: climate change and wildfires. Stay tuned to Living on Earth!