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Birds Die Singing is the most famous novel by Australian writer Colleen McCullough. The plot follows the life of the Cleary family from 1915 to the second half of the 20th century, and the center of the story is Meggie Cleary, the only daughter in a large family of poor New Zealand immigrants.

The family moves to the vast Australian estate Drogheda, owned by the wealthy and strict Mary Carson. There, Meggie meets the young priest Ralph de Bricassart. A strong emotional connection develops between them, which over the years grows into love. Ralph, however, chooses a church career and ambition over personal happiness. Encouraged by Mary Carson, who is obsessed with Ralph, she accepts the path to high church positions, aware that this distances her from Meggie.

Meggie grows up carrying a sense of loss. She marries farmer Luke O'Neill, hoping to forget Ralph, but the marriage proves to be unhappy. Luke is cold and focused on his work, while Meggie remains emotionally attached to a man she cannot have. During a meeting with Ralph on a deserted island, she gets the opportunity for a brief love affair that results in the birth of son Dane.

The second part of the novel follows the lives of Meggie's children, especially Dane, who, like Ralph, feels a call to the Church. His fate, like the fates of other family members, is marked by losses, unfulfilled desires and sacrifices demanded by love.

The title is based on the legend of a bird that spends its life searching for a thorn bush and on its longest spine sings the most beautiful song before dying. This legend symbolizes Meggie and Ralph, who experience the greatest love and the greatest suffering at the same time. The novel combines a family saga, a love story and a depiction of life in the Australian outback, and explores the conflict between duty, ambition and personal happiness.