NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Matthew Medler of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about the best bird sounds of 2025 from their vast collection of recordings, and why their selections made the list.

We become desensitized to the common sounds around us—car alarms, chattering squirrels, the mechanical functions of modern living kicking on and off throughout the day. If you had asked me a week ago ...

Even better than identifying the birds was identifying with the birds, writes. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about, ...

All air-breathing vertebrates have a larynx—a structure of muscles and folds that protects the trachea and, in many animals, vibrates and modulates to produce a stunning array of sounds. But birds, ...

Researchers conducted a global study of the factors that influence bird sounds, using more than 100,000 audio recordings from around the world. Birds make sounds to communicate, whether to find a ...

Scientists show that squirrels have one ear tuned to the chatter of birds, and act on what they learn from eavesdropping. By James Gorman It will come as no surprise to squirrel lovers — and haters, ...

Birds, although they have larynges, use a different organ to sing. Called a syrinx, it's a uniquely avian feature. Now, a team that brings together physics, biology, computation and engineering finds ...