Laurie4b Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 There is a bird that hangs out right outside our bedroom window (from the sound of it) and starting at dawn, and lasting about an hour, emits a series of cheeps that sound like a garbage truck backing up. It is AWFUL! (And yes, I want to shout when it happens, but I'd wake dh up!) It's either 3 beeps --I refuse to call them notes or occasionally 4-5. I was hoping it was a house sparrow's call (since they are not protected in our state or by federal law) but the house sparrow call on Cornell's website doesn't sound as loud or obnoxious as the one this bird makes . I guess it could be a mockingbird (it has that kind of loudness) but they usually vary their calls. Any thoughts? (I have never felt like getting up to go find out what it is. I am doggedly trying to sleep despite the garbage truck noise!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Sure it's a bird? It could be a squirrel. They make annoying noises that is similar to a squawking bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 :lurk5: I would like to know too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Sure it's a bird? It could be a squirrel. They make annoying noises that is similar to a squawking bird. No, it's not squawking. It's beeping, like one whistle, three times in a row, from the same spot. I'm pretty sure I know squirrel sounds. This also lasts an hour and squirrels don't tend to keep it up very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 If you get iBird for your region, it has all the bird calls for all the birds in your region, the regional price is fairly inexpensive and there is a lot of information in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Could it be a saw whet owl? It does sound like a truck backing up. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_saw-whet_owl/sounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Hmm. Interesting Kebo. That is quite close. The one difference is that this is usually in a series of 3, though it can go up to 5. It does give me hope though since if it is a northern saw whet, we are in its winter range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Here's another possibility -- a tufted titmouse. Check out the second song recording….http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/tufted_titmouse/sounds And, I found this quote about Mockingbirds: 'In addition to offering up amazingly accurate reproductions of all types of birds, mockingbirds will even imitate truck backup beeps, sirens, and people's whistles. They frequently sing at night.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Or, you could have a very talented blackbird in your neighborhood…. here's another quote from an article in 'Conservation': "A male European blackbird was terrorizing the neighborhood. For several months, he started singing at around 5 a.m. each day, but this was no ordinary song. The bird imitated the sounds of ambulance sirens and car alarms at a jarringly life-like volume. It even produced cell-phone ring tones that went unanswered for hours. The tale of the annoying blackbird in Somerset, U.K., was not unique. Hans Slabbekoorn, an assistant professor of behavioral biology at Leiden University in The Netherlands, had heard similar stories—but he was skeptical that such bizarre reports could be true. So he started asking people to send him recordings of the off-kilter blackbirds. Sure enough, what he got back was pitch-perfect imitations of urban noises, including not just sirens and car alarms but even the distinctive sound of a golf cart backing up—mimicked by blackbirds living near a golf course." when I was in school, a friend and I raised a couple of orphaned crows (very cool birds -- they would play catch with us with a balled up piece of paper). We took them to the rehabber prior to release, and she had a crow there she herself had raised, and that crow perfectly imitated the barking of her dog. So, a crow or related bird certainly has the ability to mimic mechanical noises as you described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Thanks so much, Kebo. I love titmice at my feeder, but you are probably right that it is a titmouse. Mine is more regular than the recordings (like I said , almost always 3 beeps; occasionally 5. ) It does have a mockingbird-like quality to it, but it never varies during that hour and I've always heard them change up their songs. They seem to like variety. Funny stories about the blackbirds... unless you lived there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Yeah, birds are great, until you can't sleep! I used to have an amazon parrot (for over 20 years), so I am very familiar with that situation. I hope you figure out a solution (ear plugs? Move the feeder?) or they knock it off soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 The feeder is on the other side of the house. :/ Ear plugs might be the deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 The boat tailed grackles sound like car remotes and alarms on our wal mart parking lot. I hope you get some rest, Laurie4b! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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