These days, the musicologist Nancy Hager is listening for the song of the house finch. “They start singing now, a beautiful, long, liquid melody. It means spring is coming,” Ms. Hager said.

Ms. Hager and other birders are also listening to the calls of the whooping crane, the blue jay, and the warbler, all from the comfort of the New-York Historical Society’s Dexter Hall.

As part of the new exhibit “Audubon’s Aviary,” which features 40 watercolors by the venerated John James Audubon, a sound artist, Charlie Morrow, has created “ambient events” that bring to life the birds depicted in Audubon’s watercolors.

Every five minutes, Dexter Hall fills with the multidirectional sound of birds in flight. “The cranes seem to come in from the north or south of Dexter Hall, and then fly over the park, giving the illusion of the room disappearing,” Mr. Morrow said.

In addition, as visitors approach individual works, a sound-box plays the call of the bird depicted. “It comes out toward you rather than sounding like it comes from a little box,” Mr. Morrow said.

There’s even sound on the stairwells approaching the exhibit, to get people in an outdoor mood.

“Had you been in the natural setting,” Mr. Morrow said, “this is the sound that you would hear.”

The opening of the exhibit last week attracted enthusiastic birders, including the hosts, Patricia Altschul, Somers Farkas, and the chairwoman of the society, Nancy Newcomb.

Others perusing the Auduboniana (as the society calls it) were Robert Booz, a fan of the house sparrow; Claire Erickson, who is sentimental for mockingbirds, and a board member of New York City Audubon, Janice Laneve, who likes the titmouse, the pileated woodpecker, the snowy owl, and the brown pelican.

Not every guest is a naturalist at heart. “I like Woody Woodpecker,” Gio Metodiev said.

The director of the New-York Historical Society, Louise Mirrer, admired a glass-enclosed display of stuffed bluebirds – specimens Audubon captured, posed in a naturalistic setting, and painted from, eventually publishing “The Birds of America.”

A member of the New York City Audubon Society, Betty Hamilton, had her own bluebird story. Several fought over a birdhouse on her property in the Catskills, the one that hadn’t been taken over by the bees, she said. “The bird world is very competitive, just like New York City,” Ms. Hamilton said.

Guests were eager to meet the executive director of the New York City Audubon Society, E.J. McAdams, who helped save the nest of New York’s most famous red-tailed hawks, Pale Male and Lola.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. is the first public program related to the exhibit, a talk by Richard Rhodes, author of “John James Audubon: The Making of an American” (Alfred A. Knopf).