You almost have to be in a bank vault not to hear the volume of eager bird song these days. From goldfinches to mourning doves, catbirds to cuckoos, just about all of the nesting species which annually choose the Vineyard as a seasonal home announce themselves with some sort of call. Woodpeckers use a favorite sounding board to resonate their presence, while shorebirds, terns and gulls are more apt to utter cries or whistles.

Land birds of field and forest, where advertising requires more audio than visual, all have a distinctive and often melodic song that identifies them as to species to the human observer and, more importantly, a song that defines a territory to other birds, especially those of the same species.

The urge to claim and defend a territory for a nesting pair of songbirds is tied to establishing an area sufficient to provide adequate food for the expanding needs of new hatchlings.

Territories are often vigorously defended physically by male and female birds and are also defended vocally, usually by the males. That persistent cardinal at war with its reflection in the brass kickplate of your front door is taking care of business in the plot of earth he is calling his own.

When the hormones of the breeding season have subsided later this summer, the oriole banging at the window and the flicker hammering away on a trim board will be annoyances of the past — until next spring.

New birders often may not see in the distance what habitual birders see. Their eyesight is perfectly acute; it’s just that they are not used to extending their focus out to a point that distant.

The same paradigm applies to hearing bird songs. The more you listen, the more you hear. The further out that you extend your listening range, the more bird songs you will pick up. It is also a matter of filtering. The wind, auto sounds, chain saws, radios, airplanes overhead and, alas, your companions, all have a way of interfering with hearing the bird songs that would otherwise reach your ears, so sometimes it takes concentration and intention to expand one’s audio sphere. Once you get in the habit of listening for birds singing, the songs will make their way through your aural filters and add considerable dimension to the birding experience, complementing the excitement of visual encounters. Right now is absolutely the best time of year to add this dimension to your outdoors enjoyment.