What bird says birdie, birdie, birdie?

Birdie, birdie, birdie is a Northern Cardinal. It is one of three widespread cardinal songs that Cornell's Birds of the World says people commonly put into words, along with what cheer, cheer, cheer and cheer, cheer, what what what what. Plenty of listeners hear the same whistles as pretty, pretty, pretty, and Audubon spells it purty-purty-purty. Cardinals live year-round in woodland edges, thickets, gardens and towns across the East, north into southeastern Canada and locally in the desert Southwest.

Listen: the likeliest bird

All three searches lead to the same bird, and the phrase comes straight from the people who study it. The Birds of the World account by Sylvia Halkin and colleagues, published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, names three common kinds of cardinal song that people describe in words: what cheer, cheer, cheer; cheer, cheer, what what what what; and birdie, birdie, birdie. The authors add a fair warning: the words capture roughly the pitch and timing of the notes, not the fine detail.

Audubon's field guide writes the song as what-cheer, cheer, cheer, purty-purty-purty-purty or sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet. Say purty out loud and you are one vowel away from pretty, which is exactly what houseguests heard when the bird expert at Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod played them the birdie song. The same guests heard the cheer song as beer, beer, beer. Same bird, same whistle, different ears.

What the song really sounds like

Take the words away and a cardinal song is a series of pure, whistle-like notes, one syllable repeated several times, usually lasting two to five seconds. Some songs switch partway to a second syllable, which is why the mnemonics come in two parts: cheer, cheer, then what what what what. Others end in a rougher, buzzier note that researchers call a chirr, made by rapid pulsing in the bird's voice box. It is the least pure sound in the song and usually comes last.

Each bird carries a set of these syllables. In different studies males had roughly 8 to 21 syllable types and females up to 17. Songs are learned, so neighbors share many of the same types and birds farther apart sound less alike. Your local cardinals may not match a recording from another state note for note.

Both sexes sing. Females use the same syllables and combine them the same way, but they usually sing from shrubs or low in trees, more quietly and far less often than males, and Audubon notes that they sing mainly in spring before nesting. Males sing in every season. In Tennessee, song is most common from February through September, least common in November and December, and heaviest in the early morning in early spring.

Other birds that sound like this

The bird most likely to be mistaken for a birdie song is the Tufted Titmouse, which lives year-round in deciduous woods, shade trees, orchards, suburbs and city parks across the East. Audubon describes its song as a whistled series of four to eight notes sounding like Peter-Peter, repeated over and over. Both are two-syllable whistles on repeat. The difference is in what happens next: the titmouse tends to keep saying its one word, while a cardinal song is more likely to change syllables partway through or finish with a burry chirr.

How to tell which one you heard

• Ignore the word, check the tone. Rich, pure whistles in a quick series are the cardinal's trademark, whether you hear birdie, cheer or pretty.
• Listen for a change of gear. A switch to a second note partway through, or a rough chirr at the end, points to a cardinal. The same Peter-Peter over and over points to a titmouse.
• Listen between songs. The cardinal's most common call is a sharp, metallic chip. If that comes from the same bush, that is a good sign you have a cardinal.

If you are still torn between the cardinal and the titmouse, hold up your phone and let Warble listen to a few phrases. It names the singer by sound alone.

Questions people ask

Warble is a game, not a field guide. Facts about birds on this page come from the sources above.