Yes, you can absolutely hear spring! Read on to learn about and listen to the top 5 most common sounds you will hear as the seasons change. Happy Spring!
Spring Peeper Chorus
1. Spring Peepers
Listen for the high-pitched “peep” of one of the tiniest announcers of spring, a small frog. Spring peepers are among the first frogs to emerge as temperatures rise. Male peepers produce loud “peeps” to attract mates, and although they are no bigger than an inch long, a single call can reach over 100 decibels, and a group call (or chorus) can be heard from over a kilometer away!
Red-winged Blackbird Song
2. Red-winged Blackbirds
The shrill song of the red-winged blackbird is a signature sign that warm weather is returning. Canadian red-winged blackbirds migrate to the southern US during winter and return to southern Canada as early as mid-February, traveling up to 1,200 kilometers. Males return first to establish territories. Their signature “conk-la-ree” is a song used to defend their territory and attract potential mates.
Spring Field Cricket Chirp
3. Spring Field Crickets
Spring field crickets are some of the first insects to appear as ice and snow melt away. Unlike most other crickets, spring field crickets overwinter as nymphs, meaning they spend the winter in their “teenage” life stage. They survive by burrowing underground and producing an “antifreeze” protein that protects them from temperatures as low as -12°C. In the spring, they “thaw out” and mature to adult crickets! Male spring field crickets softly chirp to call to mates and to establish their territory.
Bubbling Brook
4. Bubbling Brooks
In springtime, we experience a “spring thaw”. Once temperatures exceed 0°C, ice and snow rapidly melt, creating a high volume of surface runoff. Runoff occurs when the ground can’t absorb water fast enough. That is either because the ground is already so wet that it can’t hold any more water, or because it is still too frozen to absorb water effectively. Instead, meltwater flows into streams and rivers in large volumes, supplemented by heavy spring rains and river ice melt, producing the sound of rushing, gurgling, bubbling brooks.
Wind Rustling Tree Leaves
5. Rustling Tree Leaves
Although we hear wind all year round, its sound changes drastically in spring. As trees start to grow their leaves, the wind turns from a whoosh into a rustle! For trees to wake up and start growing leaves again, they have to receive some important signals²: one is the increase in daylight, which reminds tree buds to open and soak up sunlight. Another signal is the rise in temperature, which triggers the release of stored sugars and water from the trees’ roots, which then rise up the branches to assist in the growth of leaves that rustle in the wind.
Did you know...
Listening to nature may improve your health and help you connect with it more effectively¹. This effect is even more beneficial as we emerge from winter, often having spent most of our time indoors to escape the cold.
Listening to the sounds of nature can:
- increase your feelings of tranquillity while decreasing your feelings of annoyance
- reduce stress
- decrease your heart rate
- improve mood
- improve cognitive functions
- reduce pain
- connect us to our environment, and naturally encourage us towards environmental preservation
Acoustic ecologists study how natural sounds affect us to improve acoustic quality and reduce noise pollution.
1. Buxton, R. T., Pearson, A. L., Allou, C., Fristrup, K., & Wittemyer, G. (2021). A synthesis of health benefits of natural sounds and their distribution in national parks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14).
2. Maurya, J. P., & Bhalerao, R. P. (2017). Photoperiod- and temperature-mediated control of growth cessation and dormancy in trees: A molecular perspective. Annals of Botany, 120(3), 351–360.
