Where the Birds Sing

On the screen there are seventeen picture buttons. Using the mouse, position the cursor over one of the photos. ( The title of that choice will appear in the gray bar near the bottom of the screen ). Click the primary mouse button to select it.

Choices

Seacoasts

Estuaries

Rivers and Streams

Lakes and Ponds

Swamps

Marshes

Arctic Tundra

Alpine Tundra

Coniferous Forests

Deciduous Forests

Mixed Forests

Shrubs and Thickets

Prairies and Grasslands

Deserts

Cliffs and Screes

Agricultural Lands

Urban and Residential

Other Buttons

Return to Previous Topic will return you to the Axia topic that is currently already open, with the two-window comparison screen. If no Axia topic has been previously opened, this button will not be shown on the current screen.

Exit to Windows will take you out of Axia completely and back to the Windows desktop.

Information will give you the page you are looking at now.

F1 (on your keyboard) will give you Help on Help

To return to the Menu Screen

Click on this button...

Or, select 'Exit' from the 'File' menu at the upper left corner of this window.

For Help on Help, Press F1


Seacoasts

Learn to tell apart the bird songs you will hear along Seacoasts.

You are on a rocky bluff along the sea, with the wind in your face, and there are some very familiar birds calling. You don't remember them from the field guide and bird tapes.

Axia helps you learn to distinguish the 14 most common bird songs found along Seacoasts.  You will acquire the skills to identify them through their similarities and differences.


Estuaries

Learn the bird songs that you hear on Estuaries.

In this topic are included 17 common bird songs found on Estuaries. You can learn to discriminate between them using the tools of Comparison and Challenge.

Use the SongWave aspect to see the sounds as they are played, and compare two similar Songs. Challenge Mode will accelerate your learning by showing you those items you most readily confuse.


Rivers and Streams

Here are the common bird songs found along Rivers and Streams.

Whether you are a hiker, a biologist or just out fishing, your time spent near Rivers and Streams can be more enjoyable through knowing what you are hearing.

Axia can help you learn to discriminate between 27 common bird songs heard along Rivers and Streams. Compare their Songs and Photos, then use Challenge Mode to increase your skill in identification.


Lakes and Ponds

Learn to distinguish the common bird songs you hear near Lakes and Ponds.

Who does not know the call of the loon? But can you identify the other bird songs in the area? Axia will enable you to learn what they are, and to distinguish them by song alone.

Use Incremental Learning to help you sort out the 32 birds in this topic. Try creating your own Subsets by grouping together those bird songs that you have most problems telling apart.


Swamps

Do Swamps make you think of skulking birds with eerie calls?

Find out what common bird songs you can hear in North American Swamps, and what these birds look like. The next time you're in a Swamp, you might know what you're listening to as it gets closer.

Try using the Timer on the Photo aspect so that you become an expert at identifying these birds at a glance. That's probably all you'll get to see of many of the birds in Swamps. This topic includes 13 common birds found in Swamps.


Marshes

The rich and raucous sounds of the Marsh can be readily separated if you know how.

You can learn to distinguish the many bird songs at a Marsh using this topic. Put a name and face to the often-heard but seldom seen species like the rails. This topic includes 26 common birds of the Marsh.

Try using Subsets to bring together birds that sound alike in the Marsh. Do they all look alike? Now collect the birds that look alike into another Subset. Do they sound similar?


Arctic Tundra

The summer Arctic is full of bird song, and here are some of the common ones.

Learn to identify some of the common bird songs you would hear in the Arctic Tundra during the nesting season. Eight common birds are included in this topic.

Try setting the Timer to less than one second in Challenge Mode, and see if you really know these birds.


Alpine Tundra

The high mountain habitat in North America has its distinctive bird songs.

Increase your enjoyment of the Alpine meadows by knowing the birds you see and hear on your hikes. Axia will help you learn to distinguish the 12 common birds in this topic quickly, by Song and by Photo.

Compare their Habitats and Ranges to see how some birds are more adaptable than others. Use Challenge Mode to see if you can identify these birds from their Ranges.


Coniferous Forests

The dense evergreens hide many birds with beautiful songs. Learn to identify them.

A large and diverse group of birds testify to the range of food and nesting opportunities in the Coniferous Forests. You can hear them much more than you see them. Axia can help you to learn them by their songs.

Many of these 37 birds have high trilling voices that echo the sense of aloneness in these woods. Use the Subset feature to collect them together and learn to distinguish them.


Deciduous Forests

Everywhere, these habitats are rich with bird song. Learn to distinguish them.

This is one of the most abundant habitats for bird song, with many small birds on the branches and in the canopies. You can learn to identify the 56 species in this topic by their Photos and Songs.

Try using Incremental Learning and Subsets to help you cope with the birds in this topic. When you work with the topic in Challenge Mode, try setting the List Preference to the American Ornithologists' Union species order, rather than to alphabetical order, so that birds in the same families are grouped together.


Mixed Forests

Learn to identify the birds in Mixed deciduous-coniferous Forests.

These are birds found in the foothills of mountain ranges and the north-central parts of the continent. You can learn to identify birds in aspen-spruce forests by ear, using this topic.

Use Ranges and the Subset feature to separate these 57 birds into eastern, western and "everywhere" groups. Challenge Mode will help you sort out the most similar birds quickly.


Shrubs and Thickets

If you walk near Shrubs and Thickets, you will frequently encounter these birds.

Learn to distinguish 42 birds finding favorable food and shelter in Shrubs and Thickets, using their Songs and Photos. These birds are common and wonderful singers.

Use the Timer in Challenge Mode to learn these birds by a glimpse, or a fragment of song.


Prairies and Grasslands

The open plains and rolling hills are full of birds, which you can hear and usually see.

Enjoy your walk or horseback ride through the Prairies and Grasslands by being able to identify common birds that you hear and see.

Axia will help you learn the 19 birds in this topic quickly.


Deserts

Learn to distinguish the birds that can take the heat and still sing about it.

Desert birds have distinctive songs, and you won't have any problems learning to distinguish this selection of 15 common birds.

Try identifying them from the SongWaves alone in Challenge Mode. Unplug your speaker and test yourself on the visual waveforms alone.


Cliffs and Screes

These are birds common to sharply angled terrain, where they find protection.

This topic includes 11 birds common to steep cliffs and earth banks. When you pause on that impossible climb, you will probably still hear or see some of them higher up.

Compare their Songs and Photos. Learn to tell them apart in Challenge Mode.


Agricultural Lands

In all seasons birds abound on farms, plowed fields, ranches, orchards and plantations.

On Agricultural Lands, birds can easily find food, shelter and nest sites. Any visit you make to the rural countryside is a great opportunity to identify some of the 47 common birds in this topic.

Compare their Habitats and see how some birds have more adaptability than others. Use Incremental Learning and Subsets in Challenge Mode to help you learn to distinguish these birds in smaller groups.


Urban and Residential

City backyards, parks, gardens, cemeteries and reservoirs contain many diverse niches for birds.

You can learn to identify many of the 52 birds common to towns and cities in this topic. Most of them are easily visible, and all of them have distinctive bird songs.

Try using the Timer in Challenge Mode to see just how many of them you know really well. Put the others into a Subset and go through them with Incremental Learning in Challenge Mode. You will feel your knowledge grow with astonishing ease and speed.