(vanity) BIRD LOVERS: Need help identifying this bird call

6/9/07 | marty

[martin_fierro]

So there's this bird that has been making a ruckus every morning outside my window.

Can't for the life of me tell what kind of bird it is; have never heard this call before.

Anyway, here's a .wav file of its song, captured in so-so audio quality with my cell phone.

[martin_fierro]

Help me identify this critter!

[martin_fierro]

Bird help PING

[JustaDumbBlonde]

I could only hear about 1 second of white noise, no bird call. Sorry I couldn’t help.

[llevrok]

have you considered a 12ga shot gun, Martin?

[martin_fierro]

lol problem solved.

[Does so]

I can't help, as there are no speakers on my computer: but identifying the birds around me by their songs has lifted my cheerfulness-factor greatly. I don't even need to look up to know what's around. Friday, the frantic sounds of crows, robins, and even chipmunks alerted me to a soaring Bald Eagle carrying a very large branch.

There are bird call CDs to help, which I use for owls, hawks, eagles, and other less frequently-encountered birds.

[martin_fierro]

Here's an .mp3 version of the same sound file -- hopefully it works better

[b4its2late]

Mocking Bird is my guess......

[martin_fierro]

Based on what little I've seen of the bird, you may be right

It was perched 'waaaay up high on a tree, so I couldn't make out too many details. But it did look like it was gray and white.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Just a little story to go along with the Mocking Bird theme.

We had a squeaky ceiling fan, so I replaced it with a new improved model.
The morning after the installation, I heard the same noise.
I ran into the family room, looked at the fan and decided it wasn't the fan
making the noise. I followed the sound to the nearest window and lo and behold
there was a mocking bird nest in the bush outside the window. It had perfected
the squeaky fan noise precisely.

Now I’m wondering did I need to spend $150.00 on a new fan?? I’ll never know.

[faq]

I’m not familiar with the kinds of birds that you have down there in Uruguay.

To me it sounds a little bit like this bird, but not exactly:
http://www.uwgb.edu/birds/wbba/species/audios/WARBLER__KENTUCKY.MP3

[Cogadh na Sith]

Oh, sorry....

That was me.

[donna]

Maybe a Northern mockingbird? You can hear a call and a song at the link.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7030id.html

[tabor]

LOL! I didn’t have to listen long. It’s either a catbird or a mockingbird. I have a catbird at my house who does the same thing early every morning. I love ‘em, though:)

[gotribe]

Sounds like a finch to me. Lots of variation.

[Daffynition]

You should call upon some reel experts for advice.

[Daffynition]

It is a housefinch.

[Daffynition]

Seriously, it sounds like a house finch.

You can tell by the spectral analysis. The trill separating each "phrase" is the same.

[grellis]

The bird in that pic is actually a male goldfinch in breeding plumage. I suspect he’s upset about his choice of car insurance or something.

[grellis]

I'm on dinosaur dial-up and couldn't manage to get any audio. If it is indeed a mockigbird I probably couldn't have helped you--they just don't hang out in Lansing. I've heard them a few times while visiting other towns, though, and from what I recall their tone and pitch is similar to a brown thrasher and not totally unlike a robin.

Try and track its habits for a few days, that should really help you identify it. If you see it attacking everything in sight--houses, cars, telephone poles, crabgrass patches--yeah, I'd have to go with mockingbird.

BTW--am I listed as keeper of the bird ping?