BIRDS SINGING
Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob, and a very beautiful
sound…
Jen: Ahhh, the sound of birdsong. Hello, I’m Jennifer and that’s what we’re talking
about today – birdsong.
Rob: In Britain, this is the sound of summer – lots of different species – or types – of
birds tweeting.
Jen: Tweeting? You mean they are using Twitter – the social media site?!
Rob: Of course not! Tweeting is a way of describing the sounds birds make. We
sometimes say they chirp or trill too – making short, high-pitched sounds.
Jen: Yes, I knew that really. But a BBC radio station in the UK is playing a different
birdsong every day. They're calling it ’Tweet of the Day’ – which is a clever title.
Rob: It is and we’ll talk more about that soon. But first I need to see if you are a
twitcher – another name for a person who watches birds for a hobby. Do you
know how many species of birds there are on Britain's official bird list?
a) 396
b) 496
c) 596
Jen: Wow, there are lots but I have no idea so I will guess a) 396.
Rob: That is quite a lot, isn't it? We’ll find out if you are right at the end of the
programme. So, let’s talk more about tweeting – of the bird kind. Where I live,
there are many fields and trees and there is nothing more beautiful – and noisythan
the sound of the dawn chorus.
Jen: That’s when all the birds start singing at sunrise – so first thing in the morning.
It’s not so beautiful if you are trying to sleep! But I know what you mean about
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birdsong – it makes you think about different places. Listen to this birdsong, for
example…
SEAGULL SOUND FX
Rob: Yes, the seagull - a scavenger which eats food scraps or other dead animals.
Jen: Yes, it reminds me of the seaside, although I wouldn’t describe that as a
beautiful sound – more of a screech. Let’s hear another sound from one of our
feathered friends – or in other words, birds…
BLACKBIRD SOUND FX
Rob: That’s the call of a blackbird – something I hear in my back garden. It’s a very
distinctive song – easy to recognise and something you hear a lot of in the
British summer.
Jen: And how about this bird – what does it make you think of?
CUCKOO SOUND FX
Rob: That has to be a cuckoo – its call sounds like its name – ‘cuckoo’. It reminds me
of springtime because that’s when you first hear them. It’s incredible that there
are so many different birdsongs.
Jen: Well, that’s why BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day features 265 different
birdsongs. Sound engineers have been outside and captured – or recorded - the
sounds of birds with strange names like the wood warbler, nightjar, lesser
whitethroat and yellowhammer.
Rob: Great names. But listening to these strange-named birds may be enjoyable but
their tweeting could also be useful.
Jen: That’s right. Sound experts say some birdsongs can help you concentrate when
you're studying.
Rob: Yes, a writer called Julian Treasure says birdsong can relax the body and make
your mind more alert. He thinks the dawn chorus is like nature’s alarm clock –
‘it stimulates us cognitively’ – so gets our brains working and thinking.
Jen: Another study found the natural sounds of birdsong might stop you getting tired
and sleepy after eating a meal. An experiment found playing birdsong to school
children after lunch made them more alert. We should try it here Rob.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013
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Rob: We should. There’s even a smartphone app that plays birdsong and claims to
help you work better. But there’s no need for an app, all I need to do is open the
window and listen to the birds outside…
BIRDS SINGING
Rob: …but are they all of the bird species I asked you about earlier? My question was
how many species of birds are there on Britain's official bird list?
a) 396
b) 496
c) 596
Jen: I said a) 396.
Rob: Sorry Jen, you're wrong. Incredibly there are 596 types of species in Britain. 286
of them are rare – so not many of them left. OK Jen, there’s just time to remind
us of some of the vocabulary that we heard today:
Jen: We heard…
species
tweeting
chirp
twitcher
dawn chorus
scavenger
screech
feathered friends
captured
nature’s alarm clock
rare
Rob: Thanks. Time, now, for some more tweeting. Join us again soon for 6 Minute
English from BBC Learning English.
Both: Bye
