“In the hours around dawn, individual birds announce their ownership of territory to rivals and advertise to attract mates”, said Greg Budney, curator for collections development at the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“In many species”, Mr. Budney said, “the predawn chorus is specifically about territoriality or male-male rivalry; at dawn, male birds switch to a song aimed at attracting a mate.”

Read the story in the NY Times here.