BirdNote Presents

In this episode of Sound Escapes, you'll hear sounds recorded by Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker, at Zabalo River Wilderness Quiet Park — deep inside the Amazon of Ecuador. Zabalo was certified as the world's first wilderness quiet park on Earth Day in 2019.

Gordon calls this place a living Eden. "And when we listen there, we listen for miles. Not city blocks. We listen for miles."

Whether you're sheltering in place or taking a break from your duties as an essential worker, we hope this episode brings you peace and a brief escape from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the Quiet Parks initiative

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

"Olympic National Park has taught me that it's possible to not only love a place, but love a place deeply at first listen," says Gordon Hempton. "And spring is when Olympic is at its most musical."

Delight in the sounds of Pacific Chorus Frogs, the Varied Thrush, grouse, and many more in our first sonic expedition.

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

For those of us sheltering in place, it’s easy to feel the walls of our homes closing in. But sound can set us free. All we need to do is listen.

In these eight episodes, you'll hear soundscapes from the wildest places on the planet personally selected by host Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker, from his thousands of hours of recordings.

"These sound portraits are really about my love for the planet, and I hope to transfer to you that same feeling of reverence," says Gordon. "Isn't it special to be alive?"

During these difficult times, we hope that these sonic portraits can truly be an escape.

Grab your headphones, relax, and let's listen...

Window strikes are among the most serious threats to birds in North America, killing an estimated 1 billion birds every year. In New York City, between 90,000 and 230,000 birds die annually from collisions with the city’s buildings, according to NYC Audubon. But recent legislation requiring bird-friendly glass on new construction offers a hopeful precedent.

BirdNote's Mark Bramhill visited the Big Apple to learn more about this complex problem — and how the community is responding. Join Mark as he connects with Project Safe Flight, a community science project, and Wild Bird Fund, the only wildlife rehab center in New York City.

Though tall buildings kill millions of birds, they're only half of the problem.

According to American Bird Conservancy, nearly 50 percent of bird collision mortality happens on home windows. Preventing window strikes is a shared responsibility in our communities. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to help, whether you're an architect or a homeowner. Together, we can #BringBirdsBack.

Three Ways to Make Your Home Safer for Birds:

1. Reduce lighting at night. Light pollution can disorient birds and draw them in to urban areas. Decreasing lighting overall — especially omnidirectional lighting — can greatly help birds.

2. Add bird-friendly window stickers. Simple, inexpensive, do-it-yourself products like Feather Friendly will help make your windows safer for birds. When you create a dense pattern on the outside of the window, birds will perceive a solid surface that they can't fly through. This treatment is especially important on windows that reflect green space or other desirable bird habitat.

3. Keep bird feeders close to windows. This may seem counterintuitive, but if bird feeders are within 3 feet of dangerous windows, birds can't pick up enough speed for collisions to be deadly. Keep this in mind when deciding where to place a bird feeder!

In the season finale of Sound Escapes, acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton takes us on a whirlwind tour of nearly every habitat on the planet. From tropical forests to deserts to wetlands, you'll hear what the Earth truly is: music spinning in an otherwise silent space.

Thank you for joining us on this sonic journey. We hope each episode brought you a sense of peace during these troubled times, and that you have tapped into your natural ability to listen deeply.

And now, let’s listen to the music of the Earth.