Where Has the Dawn Chorus Gone?
I’ve lived in a little grey house at the edge of the woods for more than forty years now. A city girl before I moved here, I was astonished and delighted to be awakened every dawn from March through September by a cacophony of bird song.
Known as the dawn chorus (or sometimes referred to as the dawn choir), this dependable event is the sound of hundreds of birds — robins, mockingbirds, cardinals, wrens, and many others— all singing together to create a tapestry of sound, full of exuberance and pleasure .
At first it seemed to me that this celebratory chorus would continue unchecked forever, just as it always has been, long before the advent of mankind. Yet as the years go by, and particularly in the last five years, I have been forced to admit that the once glorious dawn chorus now sounds more like a small well-meaning ensemble, rather than a full-throated choir.
What has happened? Where have all the birds gone?
I think most of us know the answer. Climate change, pesticide use, disappearance of habitat, even feral cats have all contributed to the plummeting population of our wild birds. These problems are serious, and sometimes it feels as if there is nothing we can do.
But there are some things we can do, even if our efforts make only a small difference…
