A songbird is any member of the suborder Passeri (or Oscines) of the order Passeriformes. This suborder includes about 4,000 species, which is nearly half the world’s birds. Songbirds have a highly developed vocal organ called a syrinx. The syrinx is located where the windpipe divides into two bronchial tubes that go to the lungs. The male of most songbird species sings a true song, while the female produces call notes and other sounds. Birdsong is a vocalization used in courtship and breeding, mainly by the male, to attract a female, stimulate her sexually, keep the pair together, and to establish a territory. People have enjoyed listening to songbirds since prehistoric times.

How are songbirds different from other birds?

Songbirds, also known as Passeri or Oscines, constitute a suborder within the order Passeriformes, encompassing approximately 4,000 species. Songbirds possess a highly developed vocal organ called the syrinx , which allows them to produce a diverse array of melodious sounds. The syrinx is located where the windpipe divides into two bronchial tubes connected to the lungs. Air passes over the syrinx's membranes during exhalation, causing them to vibrate and produce sound. The complexity of the syrinx, controlled by syringeal muscles and nerves, enables songbirds to create intricate songs used for courtship and breeding , establishing territory, and social communication . While songbirds are known for their singing abilities, not all species sing, and some have harsh voices.

Why do songbirds sing?

Songbirds sing primarily to attract mates and defend their territory, especially during the breeding season. Birdsong is a complex behavior influenced by both genetics and learning. The syrinx, a specialized vocal organ unique to birds, allows for a wide range of vocalizations. Located where the trachea divides into bronchial tubes, the syrinx has vibrating membranes controlled by muscles, enabling songbirds to produce complex songs and even sing with two independent voices. Male songbirds typically use song to advertise their readiness to mate, attract females, stimulate them sexually, maintain pair bonds, and warn rival males. These songs can also serve as a threat display, reducing the need for physical combat. While most songbird species feature singing males, females also sing in some species, particularly in tropical regions, where pairs may sing duets to strengthen their bond.

Where can songbirds be found in the world?

Songbirds, also known as the suborder Passeri or Oscines, include nearly 4,000 species and make up almost half the world’s birds. They are mainly land birds that live in a wide variety of situations, from open grassland to forest. While songbirds can be found worldwide, some specific examples include:

What are some examples of common songbirds?

Songbirds belong to the suborder Passeri (or Oscines) within the order Passeriformes. This group includes nearly half the world's bird species, roughly 4,000 in 35 to 55 families. Songbirds possess a specialized vocal organ called the syrinx, which allows them to produce a wide array of vocalizations used in communication, courtship, and breeding. Examples of common songbirds include:

How do scientists study the songs and behavior of songbirds?

Scientists study songbird songs and behavior using various techniques. Ornithologists, both professionals and amateurs, gather valuable information through field research, aided by tools such as binoculars , bird banding (or ringing), radar , radio transmitters (telemeters), and high-quality audio equipment . Sound spectrographs are used to analyze bird calls, plotting frequency versus time to identify species by their unique vocalizations. These songs, characteristic of males during breeding season, serve to attract mates and defend territory. Birdsong is influenced by both heredity and learning, as young birds learn the true song from adult males.

songbird

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

The video thumbnail image shows a brown-speckled bird perched on a branch, singing with an open beak.

Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus megarhynchos)

Large communal nest of the social weaver bird, Philetairus socius, built in a tree with many entrance holes visible among dense, brown grass woven around bare branches.

Orange-billed nightingale thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris)

basic body feather tracts on a generalized songbird

Map of North and South America highlighting regions where passerine (songbird) species have small geographic ranges. Colored zones indicate the number of such species per area: blue for 1, green for 2 to 5, yellow for 6 to 10, red for 11 to 15, and black for 16 to 500. Concentrated areas appear in parts of Central America, the Caribbean, the Andes, and select coastal and mountainous regions.

At a Glance

songbird summary

Quick Facts

Also called:: passerine

Related Topics:: Regulidae; Maluridae; Pardalotidae; Motacillidae; Oriolidae

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songbird

bird

Also known as: Oscines, Passeri, oscine, passerine

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a songbird?
A songbird is any member of the suborder Passeri (or Oscines) of the order Passeriformes. This suborder includes about 4,000 species, which is nearly half the world’s birds. Songbirds have a highly developed vocal organ called a syrinx. The syrinx is located where the windpipe divides into two bronchial tubes that go to the lungs.

The male of most songbird species sings a true song, while the female produces call notes and other sounds. Birdsong is a vocalization used in courtship and breeding, mainly by the male, to attract a female, stimulate her sexually, keep the pair together, and to establish a territory. People have enjoyed listening to songbirds since prehistoric times.
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How are songbirds different from other birds?
Songbirds, also known as Passeri or Oscines, constitute a suborder within the order Passeriformes, encompassing approximately 4,000 species. Songbirds possess a highly developed vocal organ called the syrinx, which allows them to produce a diverse array of melodious sounds.

The syrinx is located where the windpipe divides into two bronchial tubes connected to the lungs. Air passes over the syrinx's membranes during exhalation, causing them to vibrate and produce sound. The complexity of the syrinx, controlled by syringeal muscles and nerves, enables songbirds to create intricate songs used for courtship and breeding, establishing territory, and social communication. While songbirds are known for their singing abilities, not all species sing, and some have harsh voices.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why do songbirds sing?
Songbirds sing primarily to attract mates and defend their territory, especially during the breeding season. Birdsong is a complex behavior influenced by both genetics and learning.

The syrinx, a specialized vocal organ unique to birds, allows for a wide range of vocalizations. Located where the trachea divides into bronchial tubes, the syrinx has vibrating membranes controlled by muscles, enabling songbirds to produce complex songs and even sing with two independent voices.

Male songbirds typically use song to advertise their readiness to mate, attract females, stimulate them sexually, maintain pair bonds, and warn rival males. These songs can also serve as a threat display, reducing the need for physical combat. While most songbird species feature singing males, females also sing in some species, particularly in tropical regions, where pairs may sing duets to strengthen their bond.
7 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where can songbirds be found in the world?
Songbirds, also known as the suborder Passeri or Oscines, include nearly 4,000 species and make up almost half the world’s birds. They are mainly land birds that live in a wide variety of situations, from open grassland to forest.

While songbirds can be found worldwide, some specific examples include:
- North America
- Central America
- South America
- Eurasia
- Northern Africa
- Southern Africa
- Australia
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What are some examples of common songbirds?
Songbirds belong to the suborder Passeri (or Oscines) within the order Passeriformes. This group includes nearly half the world's bird species, roughly 4,000 in 35 to 55 families. Songbirds possess a specialized vocal organ called the syrinx, which allows them to produce a wide array of vocalizations used in communication, courtship, and breeding.

Examples of common songbirds include:
- House sparrows are abundant and familiar birds found worldwide.
- Common yellowthroats are adaptable songbirds with an extensive geographic range.
- European skylarks are favorites in European literature.
- Mockingbirds are known in North America for their rich, melodious, and long-lasting songs.
6 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do scientists study the songs and behavior of songbirds?
Scientists study songbird songs and behavior using various techniques. Ornithologists, both professionals and amateurs, gather valuable information through field research, aided by tools such as binoculars, bird banding (or ringing), radar, radio transmitters (telemeters), and high-quality audio equipment.

Sound spectrographs are used to analyze bird calls, plotting frequency versus time to identify species by their unique vocalizations. These songs, characteristic of males during breeding season, serve to attract mates and defend territory. Birdsong is influenced by both heredity and learning, as young birds learn the true song from adult males.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

songbird, any member of the suborder Passeri (or Oscines), of the order Passeriformes, including about 4,000 species—nearly half the world’s birds—in 35 to 55 families. Most cage birds belong to this group. Songbirds are alike in having the vocal organ highly developed, though not all use it to melodious effect. Classification in this suborder is much disputed. Alaudidae (larks) and Hirundinidae (swallows) are the most distinctive families.

Songbirds range in size from tiny kinglets and sunbirds to comparatively large crows. They are mainly land birds that live in a wide variety of situations, from open grassland to forest. Although songbirds include some of the best songsters, such as thrushes, some have harsh voices like crows, and some do little or no singing. Songbirds are distinguished from other perching birds by certain anatomical characteristics, especially the more complicated vocal organ, or syrinx.

The syrinx—as the voice-producing structure, or song box, is called—is located at the point where the windpipe divides into two bronchial tubes to go to the lungs. The syrinx is an intricately constructed organ with a firm bony framework and filmlike vibrating internal membranes over which the air, during exhalation, passes rapidly, producing all the many utterances of the bird. A variable number of syringeal muscles and their controlling nerves adjust the tension on the membranes. The song box reaches its greatest complexity in the true songbirds. (But it is not a complicated syrinx alone that determines singing ability, for some true songbirds hardly sing at all). In some birds the windpipe is elongated and elaborately coiled. Sometimes this elongation is enclosed within the breast bone, or sternum. In certain of the birds-of-paradise known as manucodes, the elongated windpipe is coiled on the breast between the skin and the flesh. Presumably this lengthening of the windpipe gives resonance to the voice.

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Vocalization in birds includes a wide variety of calls besides the song proper and provides a means of social communication. Bird song is best considered the vocalization that is used in courtship and breeding, chiefly by the male, to advertise that he is ready to mate, to attract the female and perhaps stimulate her sexually, to keep the pair together, and to inform rival males that he has established a territory from which they will be excluded. The male’s calls are also part of a threat display that takes the place of actual combat in repelling intruding rivals. However, similar song is sometimes given spontaneously when there is no obvious use for it. Occasionally females sing, and especially in tropical species pairs may duet, again perhaps as a method of reinforcing the bond between the pair. Often the song is delivered from a series of regularly used perches. Some species, especially those that live in grasslands, have flight songs.

Bird song need not be pleasing to the human ear. The hooting of the owl, the monotonously repeated phrases of the North American whippoorwill, the crazed, repeated whistle of a Malayan cuckoo that has given it the name of the brain-fever bird, and the African tinkerbird’s repeated notes, which, from their resemblance to hammering on metal, have given the bird its name—all must be called songs.

Which birds are the best songsters is a question that is subjective. The nightingale of Europe (Erithacus, or Luscinia, megarhynchos), a small thrush, perhaps heads the list of famous songsters of European literature. Also a favourite of the poets was the European skylark (Alaudia arvensis). In North America the mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a wonderful performer with a rich, melodious, long-continued song. In Australia the lyrebirds, which are not true songbirds, have songs that are superlative in variety and intensity and have a dramatic quality. Though the best songsters may be true songbirds, some birds of other groups have pleasing or musical utterances, like the quavering trill of the screech owl and the cheery whistle of the bobwhite quail.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Rick Livingston.

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