SongLark
United States
Learn the bird calls of the San Francisco Bay Area.
SongLark teaches you to name 52 birds of the San Francisco Bay Area by ear. Each lesson takes about three minutes and uses real field recordings, and every bird comes back for review just before you would forget it.
Your first course is free, with no ads. On iPhone, sign in to the web app in Safari.
The course
The 52 birds of the San Francisco Bay Area you will learn
The course starts with the birds you hear every day and works outwards, level by level. Each lesson introduces three or four of these birds by their calls.
Level 1: City & Garden
The birds of every San Francisco block. 9 birds, 4 lessons.
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Anna's Hummingbird Calypte anna
A dry, scratchy buzzing song from an exposed twig; sharp chip notes and a loud dive-squeak.
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House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
A long warbling tumble ending in a slurred, rising burr.
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California Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
A harsh rising shreenk, usually in rattling series.
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Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
A dry even trill on one pitch; ticking smack notes when flushed.
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White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
Clear whistle then a buzzy jumble. San Francisco birds sing a local dialect.
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Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
A plaintive falling tee-yee, plus rambling song with mimicked phrases.
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Rock Pigeon Columba livia
A muffled rolling coo-roo-coo and clattering wingbeats on takeoff.
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House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Monotonous cheeping and chirping around buildings.
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Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Rambling whistles, clicks and mimicry from rooftops and wires.
Level 2: Park & Cypress
Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and every city green. 9 birds, 4 lessons.
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Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
A sharp tsip call and a thin two-part pi-tsee, pi-tsew song near water.
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American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
A flat, nasal caw repeated in even series.
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Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
A mournful coo-OO-oo-oo-oo; wings whistle sharply on takeoff.
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Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
A fast, hoarse tsick-a-zee-zee, buzzier and higher than other chickadees.
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Bushtit Psaltriparus minimus
Thin, constant sit sit contact notes from a moving flock; no real song.
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Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
Excitable piping peep-peep from pine tops, usually many birds at once.
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American Robin Turdus migratorius
Rich caroling phrases, cheerily cheer-up cheerio; a scolding tut-tut-tut.
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Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
A loud descending kee-yer and a long, even wick-wick-wick series.
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Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
A harsh shaack-shaack-shaack; a practised mimic of Red-tailed Hawk.
Level 3: Oak Woodland
The hills behind the Bay, from Marin to the East Bay ridges. 9 birds, 4 lessons.
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Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
A laughing waka-waka-waka, several birds answering each other.
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Nuttall's Woodpecker Dryobates nuttallii
A rattling descending series and a sharp pitik; a California oak specialist.
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Oak Titmouse Baeolophus inornatus
A whistled peter-peter and a scratchy scolding chatter.
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Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
A rising, catlike mewww and a buzzy trilled song from deep cover.
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California Towhee Melozone crissalis
A metallic chink note, often accelerating into a bouncing squeal duet.
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Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Buzzy introductory notes then a clear trill; a dry scolding rasp.
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White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
A nasal, low yank-yank-yank, slower and deeper than Red-breasted.
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Hutton's Vireo Vireo huttoni
A monotonous repeated zu-wee or zwee, over and over from oak canopy.
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Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana
A soft few and a short chattering kew-kew in flight.
Level 4: Coastal Scrub & Chaparral
Headlands, coyote brush and the birds hidden inside it. 9 birds, 4 lessons.
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Wrentit Chamaea fasciata
An accelerating series of pit notes like a bouncing ping-pong ball; heard far more than seen.
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California Quail Callipepla californica
A ringing three-note chi-ca-go from a fencepost.
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Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
Three sharp introductory notes then a jumbled trill; a nasal chimp call.
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Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
A rolling witchety-witchety-witchety from reeds and damp scrub.
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Orange-crowned Warbler Leiothlypis celata
A flat trill that loosens and drops away at the end; a sharp stik call.
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Wilson's Warbler Cardellina pusilla
A fast chattering series that drops in pitch and speeds up at the finish.
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Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla
Three plaintive descending whistles, oh dear me; a winter arrival.
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet Corthylio calendula
A dry scolding je-dit; astonishingly loud tumbling song for the size of the bird.
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Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
A sharp, flat chek given constantly through winter flocks.
Level 5: Marsh & Salt Pond
Cordgrass, mudflat and the ponds around the Bay. 8 birds, 4 lessons.
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Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
A gurgling konk-la-ree ending in a buzzy trill, from a cattail perch.
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Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
A mechanical rattling trill, like a sewing machine, deep in the reeds.
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Ridgway's Rail Rallus obsoletus
A hard clattering kek-kek-kek across the cordgrass; endangered and local to the Bay.
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Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
A piercing kill-DEER, often given on the wing at night.
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Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
An insistent yapping kek-kek-kek, like a small dog, over the salt ponds.
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American Coot Fulica americana
Grunts, clucks and squeaky toots from open water.
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Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
A long whinnying series of cow notes that slows and falls away.
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Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
A harsh, croaking frahnk given when flushed.
Level 6: Ocean, Shore & Night
The Pacific edge, and the birds that call after dark. 8 birds, 4 lessons.
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Western Gull Larus occidentalis
A deep, hoarse long-call; the default gull voice of the San Francisco waterfront.
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Heermann's Gull Larus heermanni
A nasal, whining cow-arrk, thinner and more complaining than Western Gull.
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Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
A harsh, low raaah like a heron with a megaphone; young birds whistle thinly.
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Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani
A loud piping wheep, running into an excited trill along rocky shore.
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Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
A dry mechanical rattle given in flight along the water.
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Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
A deep, soft hoo-hoo-hooo hoo hoo carrying a long way after dark.
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American Barn Owl Tyto furcata
A long, raspy shriek in flight; no hooting at all.
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Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
A hoarse descending keeeer, the sound film uses for every eagle.
How it works
A course, not a soundboard.
Listen and answer
A call plays. You pick the bird. New species are mixed with the ones you have already met, so the answers never come from elimination.
Review at the right time
Every bird you meet gets a review date. Get one right and it slides further away; miss it and it comes back tomorrow.
Hear it outside
Three minutes a day is the whole commitment. Ten lessons in, you will pick calls out of the dawn chorus in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Get SongLark
Start learning the birds of the San Francisco Bay Area today
Install SongLark, sign in, and choose Birds of the San Francisco Bay Area as your course. Not on Android? The same app runs in your browser.
- On Android? Install it from Google Play and sign in with Google.
- On iPhone? Open the web app in Safari and sign in. Add it to your home screen and it opens like any other app.
- One account, every device. Your progress syncs, so you can switch between your phone and your browser.
Questions
Frequently asked
Which birds does the the San Francisco Bay Area course teach?
52 birds of the San Francisco Bay Area, in six levels: City & Garden, Park & Cypress, Oak Woodland, Coastal Scrub & Chaparral, Marsh & Salt Pond and Ocean, Shore & Night. It starts with Anna's Hummingbird, House Finch and California Scrub-Jay. The full list is on this page.
Is the course free?
Yes, your first course is free and there are no ads. When you first sign in, you choose one course to keep. Choose the San Francisco Bay Area.
Do I need to know anything about birds already?
No. The course starts with the loudest, most common birds and adds three or four new species per lesson, reviewing earlier ones as you go.
Which phones can run SongLark?
On Android, install SongLark from Google Play. On iPhone, iPad or a computer, sign in to the web app at songlark.app/app. It is the same account, so your progress follows you between devices.
Does SongLark identify a bird I record myself?
No. That is the opposite of what SongLark does. Rather than having an app name the bird for you, SongLark trains your own ear so you can name it yourself.
How long does a lesson take?
About three minutes. A lesson opens with a short review of the calls you are due to forget, then introduces three or four new birds.
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