Too often it's the sound of jackhammers that fill the air. So you would expect people to welcome bird song. Apparently not. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society says it has received more calls from people complaining of noisy birds keeping them awake than in the whole of last year.
The Indian Cuckoo is the biggest culprit, with its 'one more bottle, one more bottle' call. The Asian Koel is another serial offender.
The society is pleading with people to accept the noise or, as they prefer to call it, the 'sound of nature'.
Society member Alan Lam Ngo-lun says there are good reasons why we should learn to live with the birds.
'If you hear Koels calling, congratulations, you have picked a good home. Koels lives in tall trees. Their appearance is a sound indicator of how good the environment is. If you hear their calls, it means the surroundings of your home are good.'
Lam says the cuckoos are making their calls earlier in the year thanks to global warming, which has shortened winters and advanced their breeding season. And people are getting closer to nature as urban expansion encroaches on rural areas.