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For approximately 40 minutes as dawn breaks every morning there is a cacophony of many different male birds singing out.

The RSPB say that in 2000 there were approximately 135 different species breeding in Suffolk. There are many more winter visitors and those just passing through.

So it's impossible to put an exact total on the number of individual birds that live here at any one time and contribute to the magnificent daily dawn chorus.

The reasons for this early morning bird orchestra come in many different guises. Sounds sound better early in the morning because the atmosphere is clearer and the clarity might help the male bird song sound more distinct.

Skylark Chris Gomersall RSPB

The bird feels refreshed after a night's rest. There is very little food around to eat, mainly because it's cold and it's also too dark.

So it seems the birds sing to welcome in a new day. It's also his way of calling for a mate and setting out his territory from other male birds.

With all that noise going on I am not sure how the female birds can tell one male from another. But it seems that they can.

It is thought that the male bird with the best voice and the one who sings the loudest attracts the healthiest and strongest mate. In return, it is believed that the female bird produces better offspring.

Habitats

According to Ian Barthorpe from the RSPB on Suffolk's coast, different birds tune in at different times and in different habitats. The five main habitats are gardens, farmland, heathland, woodland and reedbed.

Gardens

Ian told us which birds can be expected to sing and where: "In gardens in any of the towns in Suffolk you can hear the usual birds such as the blackbird, wren, dunnock, chaffinch, song and mistle thrushes, blue and great tits, starling, goldfinch, wood pigeon, collared dove, house martin and the swift from early May.

"In the Suffolk coastal town gardens you will be able to hear the herring and lesser black-backed gulls."

It's usually the blackbirds and robins that start first. They have large eyes that are sensitive to light so that is probably why they wake up first. Others say it’s the song thrush that leads the choir and even the wren has been known to start before the dawn breaks. Then the wood pigeons, dunnocks, great tits and the other birds follow.

Ian said: "The blackbird's song was recently voted Britain's most popular birdsong and the robin regularly sings throughout the night under streetlights - it's not likely to be a nightingale in a garden."

Dartford warbler by Chris Gomersall (RSPB)

Farmland

"Birds that sing as part of the dawn chorus on farmland and in fact anywhere rural like the heart of Suffolk, Otley College, and possibly Easton Farm Park, are the skylark, yellowhammer, turtle dove, swallow, house sparrow, whitethroat - especially where there are high hedges.

"As in town gardens you can hear the house martin, blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, wren and dunnock. You can hear the moorhen and mallard where there is freshwater."

Ian continued: "The skylark is still a familiar song despite recent declines, they are usually singing high in the sky.

"And the yellowhammer sings 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' even on hot summer afternoons." A lovely way to describe the way the bird sings and one that is used by many bird enthusiasts.

Heathland

"Heathland areas include RSPB Minsmere, Dunwich Heath National Trust or Sutton Heath Suffolk Wildlife Trust on the coast and the Brecks in the west of Suffolk and Norfolk.

Bittern by Chris Gomersall (RSPB)

"In these areas the chorus would be made up of the wood lark, stonechat, linnet, cuckoo, turtle dove, nightingale, whitethroat and lesser whitethroat. The nightjar sings at dusk only and the dartford warbler on coastal heaths only," said Ian.

"The dartford warbler re-colonised on Suffolk's coastal heaths in 1996. The stonechat is named after its call, which sounds like two stones being tapped together."

Woodland

About the woodland habitat, Ian said: "These areas include deciduous woodland and scrub, again RSPB Minsmere, RSPB North Warren, RSPB Wolves Wood, Santon Downham and the Kings Forest.

"This is where you can hear the nightingale, garden warbler, blackcap, willow warbler, blue, great, coat (coal) and marsh tits, nuthatch and tree creeper, green and great spotted woodpeckers, chaffinch, wren, robin and the redstart at RSPB Minsmere Nature Reserve.

"The nuthatch is a woodland specialist and has a distinctive piping call, which is my personal favourite. The nightingale is far more likely to be heard in Suffolk's woodlands than in Berkeley Square!"

Reedbeds

"The best by a long way are at RSPB Minsmere but also at RSPB North Warren, Wilberswick NNR and RSPB Lakenheath Fen. You can hear the bittern, cetti's warbler, reed and sedge warbler, grasshopper warbler, grasshopper warbler, water rail, reed bunting, bearded tit, mallard, moorhen, coot and little grebe.

"The bittern's call is quite distinctive, listen for the male's deep booming call in Suffolk's coastal reedbeds. The sedge warbler is an excellent mimic with a varied chattering song, and can be found in any wet areas."

Songless birds

Ian went on to say: "As a rule, bird song is limited to 'songbirds' or passerines for example, thrushes, finches, tits and warblers. Birds such as ducks, pheasants, gulls or bitterns do not sing but they do call instead.

"And some of their calls have the purpose of attracting a mate for example a bittern's boom. There are 11 booming bitterns at RSPB Minsmere this year, the best count since 1976.

"Some birds use display rather than (or as well as) song. Although it's usually only male birds that sing and some females indulge in display.

"There is always an exception to the rule of course. In winter, female robins also sing in the early morning chorus, as they hold separate feeding territories to the males."

The great spotted woodpecker rapidly hammers on a tree trunk instead of singing. Using the tree trunk as a drum, the woodpecker is obviously on percussion!

International Dawn Chorus Day is on 4 May 2008 and hopefully it will be a celebration of this melodic mayhem so why not tune in?