Air Date: Week of May 23, 2025

The cenzontle, is a Mexican bird famous for its ability to imitate a wide range of sounds. Its name, derived from the Nahuatl language, translates to "bird of 400 voices". (Photo: Panza-rayada, Wikimedia Commons CC BY SA 3.0)

This week’s “Listening on Earth” sounds come from listener Flynn Wendling, who shared the call of a mockingbird (or Cenzontle in Spanish) in Mexico that became his morning wake-up call; and from Living on Earth Producer Paloma Beltran, who visited Mexico City’s Zocalo and captured the sounds of a celebration of 700 years since the founding of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.

Transcript

O’NEILL: We’d like to thank our listeners who’ve sent in audio for our “listening on earth” series. Whether you’re at home, out for a stroll, or traveling abroad, you can share a glimpse with us through sound! Like this recording of a Cenzontle or Mockingbird shared by Flynn Wendling.

[CENZONTLE RECORDING]

O’NEILL: Flynn captured this while living in the high desert mountains of Mexico. Every morning a mockingbird would perch just outside his window and sing this song. Now it’s the tune for his morning alarm!

[CENZONTLE RECORDING]

O’NEILL: You can also take inspiration from this recording captured by Living on Earth producer Paloma Beltran during a performance in Mexico City’s Zócalo.

[ZOCALO RECORDING]

O’NEILL: Hundreds of people dressed in their traditional me-SHÍ-ca (Mexica) regalia danced in the city’s central plaza while celebrating 700 years since the founding of Tenochtitlán, which is now Mexico City.

[ZOCALO RECORDING]

O’NEILL: To capture sound you can use any sound recording app on your phone, like Voice Memos or Voice Recorder. And for the best audio quality make sure to stand still for at least two minutes without fidgeting or talking. But we do want to hear from you! So be sure to speak clearly and let us know who you are, where you are, what you’re hearing and what inspired you to record the moment. Then you can email the file to comments@loe.org, and we might just use your audio postcard on the air! That’s comments at loe dot org.

[ZOCALO RECORDING]

 

Links

Learn more about the northern mockingbird or cenzontle