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.

Some birds such as starlings (right) are better at mimicking R2-D2 (left) than others. Researchers did acoustic analyses on samples of birds imitating the plucky droid that were already available ...

Most people think of spring as the season for listening to birds — with good reason. Spring is when the most birds are singing, performing those nesting season declarations of presence and prowess ...

Birds are the master vocalists of the animal kingdom. They can make a remarkable variety of sounds. But why is a barred owl more of a baritone, while a cedar waxwing is a soprano? And what influences ...

This would be an outstanding clue in a future Jeopardy episode under the category of Birds: they look like hawks and act like vultures, but they are actually falcons. Answer: What is the crested ...

Part 1. 'I don't do calls' -- Crossing the sound barrier -- Tone and timpre -- Pitch and frequency -- Rhythm and timing -- Part 2. Put it all together and what have you got? -- Simple calls -- Simple ...

As the saying goes, "If you don't like the Oklahoma weather, just wait a day" – and it certainly rings true. As Old Man ...

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DETROW: That chirping you're hearing right now is the western meadowlark. It's one of the sounds that made the Macauley Library's list of best audio recordings of 2025. The library is an online ...