When album of endangered birdsongs beat Taylor Swift

There are now 216 threatened birds in Australia compared to 195 ten years ago, revealed a report released last month by BirdLife Australia and Charles Darwin University (CDU). Among the 77 birds threatened by increases in fire frequency, 26 were made more threatened by the 2019-20 bushfires.

Along with the report, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020, CDU PhD candidate Anthony Albrecht produced an album of bird sounds derived from the collection of sound recordist, David Stewart.

Briefly, songs of birds soared above the overwhelming buzz of human music that fills our popular culture as the album of songs of endangered birds topped the charts in Australia last month, beating big names such as Taylor Swift and ABBA. Australians showed spectacularly that they are serious about saving their endangered birds.

“We did it! Thanks to your incredible support we reached #3 in the ARIA charts, ahead of Taylor Swift, ABBA, Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé,” said Birdlife Australia. The album features “a star-studded line-up, including acclaimed artists like Princess Parrots, Forty-spotted Pardalotes and Regent Honeyeaters” among 53 of the most threatened species of Australia.

“It’s absolutely incredible to have knocked Michael Buble, Mariah Carey and a whole bunch of other really famous artists out of the [top five],” Albrecht told ABC News.

“In some ways, it’s not surprising, because I believe Australians generally are so much more attuned now to the environmental crisis that we’re all facing — and that the unique and incredible species that also call Australia home are facing.”

Here’s an animation produced for the album:

You can buy the album here.

“The title track celebrates the incredible diversity of the Australian soundscape, and highlights what we stand to lose without taking action. Be immersed in a chorus of iconic cockatoos, the buzzing of bowerbirds, a bizarre symphony of seabirds, and the haunting call of one of the last remaining night parrots,” says the website that sells the album.

Now a deluxe ‘Endangered Edition’ of the album is available for pre-order, with liner notes featuring images from some of Australia’s best nature photographers.

It includes a 24-page booklet full of images by some of Australia’s finest nature photographers, as well as information and stories by the musicians and scientists involved in producing this project.