Birds in paradise — a rainforest nature soundscape from Australia

SOUNDS LIKE: You're waking up while on holiday in a tropical rainforest, surrounded by exotic birds. Layers of sound are like vine tendrils curling through the jungle canopy: the birds are near, far, above and right next to you. Let them drown out whatever is giving you the sh*ts. In reality, this place in Cape York isn't really visited by tourists. It's one of those spots that the locals from Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council in Far North Queensland know about.  CONTAINS: Mostly birbs. And a curious wallaroo later on.You'll hear green orioles, which sound like someone dropping PVC pipes, orange-footed scrubfowl which call out like an old lady (a posh one) getting a fright and even one of Australia's rarest birds, the palm cockatoo. Minimal flies and mozzies.  RECOMMENDED FOR: Those who wish they could travel to every corner of the globe, for when you need something a bit louder to drown out some neighbours, or your thoughts. For bird people (and those who wish they were bird people). ANN'S NERDY SOUND NOTES: There is a 4WD track in western Cape York that leads from the highway towards a tidal river filled with crocs and sharks. Just as you're about to hit the high tide mark - that's where this recording is taken. It is 'riparian forest' which is the fancy way of saying it's forest on a riverbank. In this part of the world, it means thick vegetation with vines growing throughout, the foliage providing shade from the blasting sun, but also keeping the humidity high. There are rare (in Australia) Nypa Palms emerging from muddy water or even at the mangroves edge and let's face it, something that could bite you is never more than 30cm away. This is one of those recordings where there's so much going on, I almost don't know where to start when explaining what I can hear. 00:00:00 A dawn chorus, though, if you listen very carefully there is a cross over of some nocturnal birds. The large-tailed nightjar sounds like a metal spring being repeatedly bounced. Boing boing boing boing. Hearing this sound may be dependent on the volume you're listening at! Always listen ONLY to your comfort level (or leave it on full blast when you go out for the neighbours to listen to). 00:01:45  A black butcherbird calls, the largest of Australia's butcherbirds. It sounds a little bit like a child pretending to shoot a laser gun, then, perhaps the sound you'd make going over a speed bum too fast! 00:01:50 Throughout this recording there is a hum, that comes and goes in long swathes. This isn't the hum of a distant generator or plant machinery. It is the activity, I think, of many hundreds of insects - perhaps crickets? They sound a little bit like the string section of an orchestra warming up or a distant gang of very angry bees. 00:02:00 This sound though, louder and closer to the microphone is a green oriole. Ironically, also called the Australasian yellow oriole. It has a fetching millennial pink beak and sounds like several large water droplets hitting a suspended metal bowl in a cave. 00:04:50 SO. MUCH. GOING. ON. 00:04:44 Oh my goodness that is the sound of one of the rarest birds in the world. Palm Cockatoos. High pitched, almost shrill, and entirely wonderful. 00:04:50 Mosquito. I promise there will not be too many throughout the recording, though, there was in real life. Mosquito sounds are sometimes intense around their target species (say… humans!) and because the recorder is out there, all alone, we don't get too many. 00:07:30 The wompoo fruit dove in the background, lower in tone than the other birds! What a little legend. Sounds a little bit like Austen Powers trying to get you onto a dance floor boom shaka-WOOOO baby. 00:08:35 I think that perhaps, the harsh grating is a spangled drongo (or perhaps a trumpet manucode). A trumpet manucode, a glossy black bird within the family we call 'birds of paradise'. Part of its call sounds like an ancient tree creaking or a blowfly stuck in a small tin can. The other park like a car