# Why do birds sing so gay.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917 "2000-02-08T01:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrsBWayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MrsBWayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsBWayne)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/1 "2000-02-08T01:44:00Z")
And then they all shut up at once? I just moved, and there’s a huge tree right outside my window which I think is a resting ground for every sparrow that’s not busy picking up fries over at Disneyland. They all chirp and once and make a lot of noise, then suddenly they’ll all just stop!! Not little by little, they just all are silent at exactly the same time. Weird. Anybody know why? SW * * * [www.thecats.com](http://www.thecats.com) ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/2 "2000-02-08T01:49:00Z")
Go rent Hitchcock’s _The Birds_. It explains everything. PS- You don’t live next to a gas station, do you? ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/3 "2000-02-08T01:53:00Z")
Interesting question, MrsB! I never noticed the singing thing, but I’ve always been fascinated by the way a flock of starlings can all simultaneously change direction, as if there were a “flock-leader” somewhere directing the aerial ballet. ## Maybe they wear tiny radio headsets? _I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…_ T ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/4 "2000-02-08T01:56:00Z")
MrsBWayne, What about the parrots? I’ve seen them in O.C. for about a decade, and now I’m seeing them at home in L.A. Anyway, they seem to squak noisily for an hour, then fly off somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![MrsBWayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MrsBWayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsBWayne)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/5 "2000-02-08T04:02:00Z")
Nope, don’t live next to a gas station. What does that have to do with it? At least they sleep at night. I haven’t seen any parrots around. Maybe I’ll take a closer look up in that tree… well, maybe not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/6 "2000-02-08T04:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MrsBWayne: > \*\*And then they all shut up at once? I just moved, and there’s a huge tree right outside my window which I think is a resting ground for every sparrow that’s not busy picking up fries over at Disneyland. They all chirp and once and make a lot of noise, then suddenly they’ll all just stop!! Not little by little, they just all are silent at exactly the same time. Weird. Anybody know why? > > SW > > \*\* Most birds will cease singing and “freeze” when a threat seems apparent. They are quiet for two reasons: 1. They need to be able to listen for audible clues about the “threat”. 2. Birds in groups are very attuned to each other and will take clues from the chatter/silence of other birds. Thus, when one bird shuts up in response to a possible threat, the others will follow suit. A cat walking by, a hawk flying over, or just the sound of a dog barking excitedly nearby is enough to trigger the phenomenon. * * * **FixedBack** “When learned men begin to use their reason, then I generally discover that they haven’t got any.”~~\*G.K.Chesterton 1908 \* ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/7 "2000-02-08T13:31:00Z")
I can bet you find your birds are most active singing out their little hearts around dawn or predawn. I don’t know the details, but birds tend to be most active at this time and then the hubbub dies down. (Of course, we had one dumb mockingbird who started at 3am! Must have been that proverbial “early bird”!) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/8 "2000-02-08T13:33:00Z")
Supplemental WAG: Their chirps may be just hunger cries. The husband bird is begging the wife to get up and fix some breakfast while the wife bird is telling him to get his lazy, fat tail feathers up and fix his own @&%\*$ breakfast! ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/9 "2000-02-08T14:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Nope, don’t live next to a gas station. What does that have to do with it? Sorry, lame joke on my part. There is a scene in _The Birds_\* where a rampaging flock of birds actually blows up a gas station. There are also scenes where the birds will stop squawking just before attacking someone. Very creepy! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/10 "2000-02-08T14:46:00Z")
Don’t tell Krispy; but they are responding to the alien signals coming from behind the clouds! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/11 "2000-02-08T15:29:00Z")
Bird vocalize for mating or territorial reasons. So they are not “singing,” they are actually cussin’ and talking dirty. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-birds-sing-so-gay/6917/12 "2000-02-08T17:41:00Z")
Just like heavy metal rock singers? 🙂