Will Young will be hosting a dawn chorus radio show with naturalist, and BBC Wildlife contributor, Brett Westwood.
The seven-hour broadcast will air from RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset, and will feature live birdsong and calls from a range of species, including bitterns and various warbler species.
"I can't wait to sit and listen to the dawn chorus as it sweeps across the world," said Will Young. "It is nature’s true essence of music and I am genuinely thrilled to be a part of it."
Author Mark Cocker and Jenny York, a birdsong expert from Cambridge University, will be guests on the programme.
It will also include poetry and music inspired by birds. Musician Hanna Tuulikki said, "Birdsong (and calls) are inspiring to me, because perhaps more than any other sounds, it is these that draw me out of myself, into the present moment, to full engagement with the here and now."
RSPB Ham Wall with Glastonbury Tor in the background © David Kjaer / RSPB
The show is participating in a unique Pan-European nature broadcast, which will celebrate birdsong from 27 different locations across Europe.
"The complex musical patterns of songbirds never fail to impress, the haunting calls of waders across the water move me, and the chattering vocalisations of certain seabirds make me laugh!"
Last year’s BBC Radio Four dawn chorus broadcast proved successful – the team managed to hear both tawny owl and cuckoo.
Brett Westwood said, “The dawn chorus is mesmeric. To be there when the light hits is magical. To be able to capture it on an array of microphones and bring its acoustic glories into people’s homes is something the BBC is uniquely placed to do.”
International Dawn Chorus Day 2017 takes place on Sunday 7th May.
