territory, identifying members of their own species, holding a flock together and intimidating predators,” Karnstedt said of the complexity of the songs.

“Each species of bird has a different language of sounds. Birds of the same species that live in different regions can even have unique dialects; where they’re singing the same songs or making the same calls, they just sound slightly different.”

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has amassed a vast catalog of online bird information called the Macaulay Library that provides bird images paired with audio and video.

Website visitors are encouraged to upload bird photographs, videos and song recordings at https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog.

Every year, the Cornell Lab and Audubon Society invite the public to go outside and count the birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, to be held this year from Friday, Feb. 17, through Monday, Feb. 20. Last year’s contributors provided the largest ever accounting of birds from around the world for the online bird data collection.

Cosley Zoo is offering a Great Backyard Bird Count training session the weekend before the event. Families and individuals interested in participating in the prep course, to be held Saturday, Feb. 11, from 2 to 4 p.m., should contact Natasha at nfischer@wheatonparks.org.

Cosley’s program is best suited for families with kids 8 years and older, but all ages will be welcome. The training session fee is $7 per person or $20 per household or group.