A wildflower meadow in Spring and early Summer is full of sound. Like an orchestra playing a symphony, some sounds are more noticeable than others but all weave together to create a vivid soundscape. 

Setting the beat is the male meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus). By rubbing their legs against their wings, they make a regular, rhythmic ‘rrr’ sound to attract females. This is known as stridulation. 

Throughout their lifecycle, these grasshoppers undergo a series of moults from wingless nymphs to winged adults, shedding their exoskeletons as they go. Nymphs are present from April onwards, becoming adults in June. Males begin displaying to females at this time, hoping to impress by performing their chirring ‘song’.  

Eggs are laid in a pod beneath the soil, ready to hatch the following Spring when the chorus will be struck up once again. 

The meadow grasshopper is also a master of camouflage and it’s likely that you’ll hear them before spotting one. Settle in near a sunny patch of long grass and you may be lucky to see one resting or feeding amongst the stems.  

The buzz of a bumblebee ambling from flower to flower is often the backing track to a sunny day. But how do they buzz? As a bumblebee flies, its rapid wingbeats cause vibrations which we hear as a buzzing noise. Some bumblebees can beat their wings up to 11,400 times a minute! The larger the bee, the slower its wingbeats and the lower pitch the buzz.  

Some plants have tightly packed pollen, holding onto it for the right pollinator. This makes the pollen hard to reach for many – but not for bumblebees.

To shake the pollen loose, the bumblebee vibrates their wing muscles while visiting the flower making a particularly loud buzz. The pollen falls onto their body – some of it is groomed into their pollen baskets on their hind legs, but some of it will be transferred to the next flower they visit. This is known as buzz pollination.

Providing melody is the unmistakable sound of a skylark (Alauda arvensis) radiating across the landscape. These small birds sing whilst rising into the air and hovering at great heights above their territory. Their ‘song-flights’ can last for up to an hour and they can reach heights of up to 300m before parachuting back to earth. 

As with the meadow grasshopper, it’s the male that is making all the noise. Male skylarks sing to defend a territory and to show nearby females how fit they are. Not only can they sing and fly at altitude at the same time but they’re confident that they can be high up in the sky making a lot of noise and be able to escape from any potential predator.

There are so many sounds to discover – from the wind rippling through tall grasses and flowers to the fluting song of a yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) perched nearby.  If you visit a meadow or grassland, tune into the sounds around you – what can you find?

Instructions

For each of the questions below, hit play "▶" on the audio player to hear the sound, then read the clue, then click on one of the three answers to guess which animal makes the sound.

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4