Exploring Bird Sounds with Dan Mennill

In this episode we get answers to some of our biggest questions about bird songs, calls, and non-vocal sounds. Learn how thrushes make that haunting flute-like sound, listen to the duetting phenomenon of tropical songbirds, and explore how some birds learn their songs while others don’t. Dive into the complex world of avian communication – and so much more!

Help the iconic Wood Thrush and so many more migratory birds by drinking Bird-friendly Certified Coffee. When you order from birdsandbeans.ca/warblers Birds and Beans donates to this podcast. 

Dan Mennill is a Professor of Ornithology at the University of Windsor. He studies acoustic communication in wild animals, especially the songs of birds. He has helped pioneer many new recording and playback technologies for field research. He has published more than 180 papers in scientific journals and supervised more than 40 graduate students. 

Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan, and then as the Ontario Piping Plover Coordinator. Years of sharing her love of plovers with beach goers has turned into a full time communications role with Birds Canada. 

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