Voice of the Wild University of Illinois Extension

Learn the song and call of the Red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus). 
A key member of the summer orchestra, you’ll hear this common gray and olive bird on nearly every hike. It sings throughout the day, every day, seemingly every minute. Uttering short little phrases one after another as if it's just letting us know that it’s up there. It tends to slink about in the upper canopy inspecting the underside of leaves for caterpillars and other arthropods. Despite its name, its red iris is not always easy to see; look instead for its dark eyeline and pale eyebrow. 
Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is brought to you by the University of Illinois Extension Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
Red-eyed vireo song (ML507846) by Geoffrey A. Keller 
Red-eyed vireo call (ML507849) by Oliver H. Hewitt 
 

Learn the song and call of the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). 
This big witchity-witchety song, often heard in tallgrass prairies and open marshes, comes from a little chunky warbler with a yellow throat and black mask. Males call out all summer long, sometimes popping out of the low reeds and grasses to do so. Listen out for their scolding rattle call anywhere there’s tall grass with a little water nearby. While Females lack the male’s distinctive black mask, they keep the yellow throat as well as the bird’s distinctive crisp chip. 
Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is brought to you by the University of Illinois Extension Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
Subscription links Here 
Subscribe to the Newsletter 
Listen online on our Homepage 
Common yellowthroat rattle call (XC468422) by Doug Raybuck (from www.xeno-canto.org) 
The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
Common yellowthroat song (ML509109) by Geoffrey A. Keller Common yellowthroat call (ML509117) by Peter Paul Kellogg and Brina Kessel 

Learn to identify the seven species of periodical cicada (Magicicada) by their song. 
For a few weeks in 2024 all seven species of periodical cicada will be calling from different areas of Illinois. The collective chorus of these cicada broods can be deafening, but like any natural chorus, it consists of individual and identifiable singers. In this episode we’ll learn the handful of songs you can hear during 2024’s rare double emergence. 
The sounds used for this episode are from the University of Connecticut’s Magicicada informational website, which can be found here. 
 
Illinois Brood range map and other periodical cicada information here. 
More general information on Cicadas here. 
 
-Decim group reproductive displacement from University of Connecticut here. 
 
University of Connecticut’s Magicicada species pages can be accessed here. 
 
See my colleagues over at Good Growing eat cicadas here. 
Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is a service of Illinois Extension’s Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
Subscription links Here 
Subscribe to the Newsletter 
Listen online on our Homepage 

Learn the song and call of the Yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia). 
You might find this little yellow bird in a stand of willows next to a pond or hear its call while walking past the shrubby edge of a creek. Its song is an anthem of the early summer and it’s sung in two phrases. The first goes “sweet sweet sweet” and the second can be heard as “I’m so sweet” or “song so sweet.” The singer is yellow from head to tail with just a tinge of olive across its back. In the breeding season the males have handsome red streaks down their front. 
Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is brought to you by the University of Illinois Extension Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
Subscription links Here 
Subscribe to the Newsletter 
Listen online on our Homepage 
 
The following Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
ML509228 by Mike Andersen, ML509226 by Wil Hershberger, and ML509234 Robert C. Stein 

Learn the song and call of the Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). 
A flash of black and white in a low brush pile is likely to be this robin-sized sparrow, and if you see a pair arresting dark red eyes peeking out from that dense tangle, you’ll know for sure. This bird has rufous sides and a white belly; features that stand out on otherwise dark plumage. Males display this dark plumage as a deep black, while females express it as an earthy brown. Be sure to remember to “drink your tea!” 
Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is brought to you by the University of Illinois Extension Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube 
Subscription links Here 
Subscribe to the Newsletter 
Listen online on our Homepage 
 
The following Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
ML509431 and ML509435 by Wil Hershberger 

Headphones on! In our first bonus episode we won’t be hearing an animal’s song and learning its voice. Instead, we’ll be giving voice to a tree. We’ll be hearing about Platanus occidentalis, the American Sycamore, and it starts with a walk through the woods… 
Do you want to learn bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. From time to time, we’ll also do a deep dive into wildlife science, news, and natural history. Voice of the Wild is brought to you by the University of Illinois Extension Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy program. 
Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
Subscription links Here 
Subscribe to the Newsletter 
Listen online on our Homepage 
This episode was written and recorded by Brodie Dunn. 
The following Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
Yellow-throated Warbler - ML509298 by Mike Andersen 
Pine Sisken single call - ML510254 by Dave Herr 
Pine Sisken flock - ML510252 by Geoffrey A. Keller 
American Goldfinch call - ML510278 by Wil Hershberger 
Great Blue Heron call - ML505864 by Randolph Little and James Kimball