Birdsong is a non-music field-recording genre focused on the vocalizations of birds—songs, calls, and choruses—captured in natural habitats.
Releases range from single-species studies and identification guides to immersive dawn-chorus soundscapes and curated sonic journeys through specific ecosystems.
While often documentary in intent, birdsong albums are also appreciated for their meditative qualities and have been sampled or framed as art listening experiences.
The first known recording of birdsong is commonly attributed to Ludwig Koch, who captured a shama thrush on wax cylinder in 1889 in Germany. Early wildlife sound efforts were tied to scientific documentation and the advent of portable recording devices, laying the groundwork for birdsong as a published audio category.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Koch worked with the BBC, producing landmark discs and radio features that popularized birdsong for the public. In the U.S., the Cornell Lab of Ornithology—through figures like Arthur A. Allen, Peter Paul Kellogg, and Albert R. Brand—pioneered systematic avian recording, issuing LPs that served both education and enjoyment. Improvements in microphones (notably parabolic reflectors) and tape enabled clearer, longer, and more species-specific recordings, while labels such as Folkways and Nonesuch helped distribute birdsong albums internationally.
With the rise of consumer audio and nature-listening culture, birdsong collections proliferated on cassette and CD. Recordists such as Dan Gibson, Donald J. Borror, Jean C. Roché, Lang Elliott, and Geoff Sample issued themed sets—identification guides, habitat anthologies, and pure ambience. These releases reached birders, educators, and relaxation listeners alike, cementing birdsong as both documentary and contemplative listening.
Digital recorders and high-sensitivity microphones elevated fidelity and accessibility. Community archives like the Macaulay Library and Xeno-canto enabled global sharing, metadata standardization, and research reuse. Parallel to documentary aims, sound artists and composers increasingly wove unaltered or lightly processed birdsong into electroacoustic, ambient, and installation contexts, while ethical fieldcraft (minimizing disturbance, using permits, and avoiding excessive playback) became a widely emphasized standard.
Decide whether the work is documentary (species identification, behavior) or experiential (immersive soundscape). This choice determines mic technique, editing philosophy, and how much human presence (narration, labeling) to include.
