Birdsong flies back with AbracaDABra!

Children’s service abracaDABra! is welcoming birds back to radio with ‘Dawn Chorus’

The UK’s first internet radio service for children which currently broadcasts daily from 6am to 10pm will from November the 8th, air birdsong from 3am to 6am, intertwined with a range of complementary music and songs, including Red, Red Robin; The Lark Ascending and Mozart’s Bird Catcher’s Aria. Enthusiasts are invited to submit their own garden recordings and provide feathery facts and news to add to repertoire from the RSPB and seasoned twitchers.

“The RSPB is advising our series on ‘British Birds’, presented by children, so this is a harmonious progression“, says abracaDABra! director, Susan Stranks. ‘Dawn Chorus’ takes to the air-waves on November 1st and the station will still feature birdy-notes during the day for families who rise after 6am.

This will be welcome news to listeners’ whose feathers were ruffled when the song-birds flew away from the Digital One multiplex.  Up to half a million fans are said to have tuned in to Quentin Howard’s twenty-minute garden loop, which was first aired as a test-feed for Classic FM back in 1992.

The birds fluttered back to Digital One following the closure of speech service Oneword but migrated again in July to make way for Amazing Radio, which specializes in showcasing unsigned bands.

RSPB Communications Officer, Tim Webb, commented “We have over a million members, and children are increasingly active in our conservation and Bird Watch initiatives.  I have a background in radio, so I’m delighted to bring my past and present careers together in this way to enthuse this young audience to listen and learn about our wild-life through this unique medium.”

Eleven year old Beatrix Stewart who is a member of the RSPB’s young supporters group, Wildlife Explorers, said, “Sometimes, when the birds aren’t singing in the garden, I like to listen them on our computer. I used to go to sleep listening to Birdsong, now I wake up with it, and I’ve found out lots about the birds in our garden.”

abracaDABra! can be listened to via computer and on the new generation of WiFi radio sets, which can receive thousands of stations throughout the world.  The aim is to franchise ‘Dawn Chorus’ on other stations to make night-listening more diverse and interesting.