People love to explore the woods and other wild places with their eyes, but have you tried exploring with your ears? At times it is difficult to observe birds because small birds can be hidden by leaves, branches, tall grasses and brush.

Birds also have many colors and patterns that blend into their surroundings and act as camouflage. Birds use this camouflage to avoid danger. Some birds, especially males, are brightly colored in the spring in order to attract a female, so it is important that they stay concealed during this time to avoid attracting predators.

So how are birds able to stay hidden and still communicate with others of their species? The answer is by producing distinctive songs and calls that are unique for each species.

Michigan's wildlife produces many fascinating sounds which can be heard at all hours of the day or night. Birds produce songs to attract mates and/or defend territories. When spring arrives in Michigan, the woods explode with a symphony conducted by our feathered friends.

If you spend time in the woods you may hear these sounds, and with a little help you will be able to correctly identify individual species, which can open up an entirely new appreciation for your surroundings.

Most, but not all, songs are vocalizations. The song of the ruffed grouse is a series of thumping sounds called "drumming" that occurs when the male bird beats his wings in a fashion that traps air between the wings and body that produces the drumming sound. Surveys are conducted by wildlife biologists and volunteers each spring to listen for drumming male grouse in order to count them as an index to their numbers.

Other birds use stiff feathers to make sounds as air travels across them and causes those feathers to vibrate during aerial displays. These sounds are called "winnowing" in the case of the common snipe, and are produced when these birds climb to high altitudes and then suddenly plunge toward the earth in order to gain speed. During these high-speed dives, snipe spread their tail feathers which cause them to vibrate and produce the sounds which are meant to help them attract a mate during display.

One of the tools used to interpret bird sounds is association. We call the association of songs "mnemonics." This tool helps with identification by listening to a bird song and then associating it with human language in the form of a word or phrase.

There are some very common birds most of you have heard your entire life and would know the song immediately if you heard it.

Take the mourning dove, for example. Most people have heard them cooing at bird feeders and on power lines, but did you ever associate their song as them saying "Hoo-la-hoop, hoop, hoop?" This is how mnemonics work.

Another example of mnemonics is the ovenbird that produces a series of loud scratchy notes that sound like "teacher-teacher-teacher-teacher-teacher." Ovenbirds got their names from the shape of the nest they build out of grass on the ground in the spring. The nest looks like an old-time, little covered oven. Ovenbirds have very loud songs and live in forested areas.

In mixed forests of conifer and hardwoods, folks may hear some of Michigan's smaller, more secretive summer residents, the wood warblers. Wood warblers breed in Michigan and Canada, and then spend winter in Central or South America. Weighing only a few ounces, their small size makes them difficult to see because they are easily hidden by leaves. Many, however, produce distinctive songs that help identify them.

A common wood warbler that occupies forested habitat is the black-throated green warbler. They can be easily identified by song alone. A black-throated green warbler sings a song similar to "Zee, Zee, Zee, zoo-Zee."

In addition to these birds one should also be listening for the "Here I am, where are you, over here?" of the red-eyed vireo. Michigan's state bird, the American robin, has a distinctive song which can be interpreted as "Cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily." Another common bird, the white-breasted nuthatch, has a song that sounds like "ank, ank, ank."

Some birds are named after the songs they sing such as the veery which sings "veeeeer, veeer, veeer, veer, veer," or Eastern phoebe which simply says "phoebe, phoebe, phoebe," and the Eastern wood-pewee which sings "Pea-a-weeeeeeee."

Other interesting birds found in our forests include the scarlet tanager that can be heard singing a song similar to that of a robin, only much raspier, but has an unmistakable call of "Chick-burr."

The Nashville warbler's song can be characterized as "Pizza-pizza-pizza, eat-eat-eat." A sure sign of spring is the song of the white-throated sparrow singing its distinctive "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody."

Many folks are familiar with the black-capped chickadee's call "Chick-a-dee, dee, dee," but have you noticed that in spring, the males try to attract a mate by singing "cheese-burger?"

Not all birds sing in the daytime. On warm spring evenings there are a few birds that you should be listening for. Two of our common woodland owls are good examples.

Owls are easily identified by their songs such as the "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all" which is the song of the barred owl. Another is the song of the great horned owl with its distinctive "Who's awake-me-too, who's awake-me-too."

During spring evenings, surveys are conducted for American woodcock as they "peent-peent-peent" their song in between conducting their aerial displays and then flutter back to the earth to sing some more.

The Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division is charged with providing habitat for viable wildlife populations. The DNR does this by managing and conserving habitat that is vitally important for the well-being of wildlife found across the state.

Mnemonics are useful tools during surveys that help managers detect birds, which, in turn, can inform us about population status, trends and species-habitat associations. Many species are highly selective of the habitats in which they live. As a result they can be used as indicators to inform us about our habitat successes, failures and management needs.

Some surveys conducted around the state are designed to detect some of our rare birds, such as the endangered Kirtland's warbler. Over 99 percent of Kirtland's warblers make their home in Michigan during summer and only nest in young jack pine forests that are less than 20 years old.

Listening for the song of the Kirtland's, "Tea-tea, chi-chi, wee-wee," can be much more effective than looking for them, and thus one's ears play a vital role in detecting the presence of these birds. Kirtland's warblers evolved around historic fire regimes in jack pine forests, which is why habitat management in the small region of the northern Lower Peninsula where this bird is primarily found focuses on creating habitat by mimicking fire disturbance through the clear cutting of jack pine.

It can be quite enjoyable learning the songs of birds. People can sometimes hear distinctive tones or sounds that birds make and incorporate their own set of mnemonics that help them associate songs with birds. This list is only a guide to introduce you to and help you interpret some of the common songs you are hearing in the fields and woods. Hopefully it will start you along your way to identifying your birds by song while you are exploring Michigan's great outdoors.