If you’ve ever wondered why birds sing, Dr. Gráinne Cleary has the answer. In fact, Gráinne has given us nearly all the answers about birdsong in her upcoming book Why Do Birds Sing? Grainne grew up loving birds. At age four, she started feeding them, and never wanted to do anything else. Now, she’s a wildlife ecologist based in Australia, with research that focuses on engaging the public through citizen science to determine the best outcomes for urban birds.

Gráinne’s previous books include the 2019 Your Backyard Birds: Understanding the Behaviours, Habits and Needs of Our Brilliant Birds (Australia-based) and the 2022 Why Do Birds Do That? Over fifty answers to the most often asked questions. 

When she realized that her most commonly asked questions centered on birdsong, Gráinne began researching. Her Irish father was astounded to learn that the first songbirds originated in the landmass that would become Australia. Gráinne explains that the earliest fossils of songbirds around from around 54M years ago, during the Eocene era. It took another nearly 20M years for songbirds to appear outside Australia.

Why Do Birds Sing? is organized into eight parts, with topics such as “How birds learn song,” “Understanding Birdsong,” and “Female birdsong.” From there, the book is a Q&A format. Gráinne delves deep into recent scientific research and then gives her readers a thorough, easy-to-understand answer.

Answers are footnoted, and the extensive “Notes” section at the back provides information on the research papers. In the question of “Do Birds Remember Dangerous Humans,” for example, Gráinne references the fascinating 2010 study “Lasting recognition of threatening people by wild American crows,” published in Animal Behavior. 

The concluding section of the book focuses on how understanding bird’s brains helps with understanding human brains, including in areas such as speech disorders, dyslexia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s.

Why Do Birds Sing? is available now for preorder, with a publication date of June 16, 2026. While the book has a slight emphasis on Australia birds, the majority of the book applies to birdsong in general. This book provides, quite literally, the answers to questions you didn’t even know to ask. It’s both a fascinating read and a reference book you will reach for repeatedly over time. 

Why Do Birds Sing? by Dr. Gráinne Cleary; Allen & Unwin, Australia, 2025. ISBN 978 1 76147 232 9; $24.99, paperback.