The dawn chorus: Nature’s best concert

Dr. Lowman’s latest Nature’s Secrets column in newsobserver.com:

The time was 4:24 a.m. I sat upright in bed, awakened by an inspirational choir that just burst into sound. Vacationing in the woods of northern Vermont, I took a June sojourn back to my childhood forests of New England. Sleeping until noon is an obvious privilege of vacation, but late sleepers in the short Northern summer miss one of the best musical events of the year.

The red-breasted robin was the first songster on nature’s program. Opening up the dawn chorus with a melodious, cheerful message, it announced to the forest denizens that sunrise was imminent. Soon, that dawn harbinger was joined by other robins, a trio in full song. As if not to be outdone, the white-throated sparrows trilled, “Oh sweet Canada, Canada.” Almost 150 years after Thoreau described New England songbirds, their melodies have remained remarkably true over time.

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