Forgotten Songs is a public art installation comprising 180 bird cages that play a soundscape of birdsong. Commissioned by the City of Sydney, it was permanently installed in Angel Place in 2011.
During the day, you may hear the calls of the Eastern Whipbird, Rockwarbler, Regent Honeyeater, Grey Shrike-thrush, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Spotted Pardalote, Brown Gerygone, Jacky Winter, Scarlet Robin and many others. At night, the soundtrack switches to nocturnal birds like the Australian Owlet-nightjar, Powerful Owl, Southern Boobook, Barn Owl, Tawny Frogmouth, and White-throated Nightjar.
The project stemmed from a conversation with Dr. Richard Major from the Australian Museum. As part of my day job, I made a video about his research into White Ibis, a species which had successfully colonised parts of the city as the birds found abundant food and nesting spots throughout the urban environment. Along with Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and Noisy Miners, they had adapted well to the new conditions of life.
Other birds weren't so successful. These smaller birds, often songbirds that relied on thorny bushes for nesting spots, had been pushed to the margins of the city. The bird calls heard in the installation are from these birds that are no longer found in the city but survive in the bush margins.
By understanding the original soil type in Angel Place, and the fact that the Tank Stream flows under the lane, a list of vegetation was drawn up by Dr. Major, and he extrapolated from there the list of birds that most likely would have inhabited the area before the arrival of Europeans. Fred van Gessel provided the sound files of those species he had recorded in the bush surrounding Sydney.
Thanks to Dave Towey for programming the audio soundscape, Richard Wong for design input, Freeman Ryan Design for the graphic treatment on the laneway, and Partridge Partners for engineering advice. Aspect Studios was the landscape architect for the overall Angel Place and Ash St laneways upgrade project.
Further information and links on the project's Wikipedia page, and the City of Sydney's public art site.
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