Suze01 Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Maybe ChrisPP or some other knowledgeable person could tell me which bird is it that makes a short call that sounds like a referee's whistle (pea whistle)? I've been spending a lot of time in the garden recently and have heard it frequently and I'd love to know which one is. I've never been able to spot it despite carefully looking in the direction of the sound so I couldn't even tell you what it looks like. Maybe there is someone with a whistle hiding behind the hedge winding me up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 This is turning out to be a bit of a difficult evening. Here's a couple to be going on with:Black redstart or Songthrush.If you click on the link and then on "R" and then find Black redstart and click on the audio symbol.Ditto for Songthrush only the letter "T"http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/ Hope that works for you, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 Thanks Chris, but no, neither of those. Last year we had a pair of Black Redstarts nesting under our terrace.It sounds like a single short blast on a pea whistle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Cirl bunting?Grasshopper warbler?You will find them on the same RSPB site.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Suze. Try a Bullfinch,bit of a pest in the orchard.Michael. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks for the tips.I've ploughed through all the soundbites on the RSPB website and I think I've found the right one. The only one that sounds like it (very accurate too) is the [url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/w/waxwing/index.asp]Waxwing[/url]. It looks very distinctive and I can't say that I've seen one. Is it likely to be this in my area, the website only gives details for the UK (wintering there) but doesn't say where it lives the rest of the year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 If you compare that to the grasshopper warbler I think you will find there's nothing in it and the grasshopper warbler is a bird that you will have in your neck of the woods, but not the waxwing, they sometimes come down this far in winter if conditions are harsh in the north and east, but would have been long gone by now.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks very much Chris, that seems to have solved my little conundrum. The description ties in very well too: "Even when you hear one it can be difficult to locate it due to the ventriloquial effect of its singing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 The last couple of nights there has been a bird singing beautifully in the dark (a wonderful feeling) and he was still singing somewhere up in a tree this morning. I wonder if it is and suppose it probably is a Nightingale.I've tried your site Chris to hear the song, but can't get it to work, neither sound, nor video. I tried to download that Quicktime thing, but it takes hours. Is that what you had to do Suze? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Definitely a nightingale Christine, they are everywhere I go at the moment, I guess everyones got them around and singing all day as well, in fact I can hear one outside at the moment.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Thanks Chris. Then aren't we all lucky... it's lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suze01 Posted April 20, 2006 Author Share Posted April 20, 2006 [quote user="Christine Animal"]I tried to download that Quicktime thing, but it takes hours. Is that what you had to do Suze?[/quote]Yes, but I downloaded the version without the i-Tunes bit and it was much quicker (after abandoning the i-Tunes version!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkhunter Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hi Suze, i have heard starlings mimic various things incl a telephone ring and even a crow call, perhaps you have a starling / avid football fan, Hugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 I was actually about to post a question about birds that sign at night as for the last few nights I’ve had one (or more) singing really loudly from a tree in my garden. When I go out, does not seem to stop and when I shine a torch up to look in the tree for it is also does not stop, but it’s a big tree and I’ve not seen it (yet). Having listened to the RSPB web site Nightingale song it is a Nightingale – so thanks for answering the question before I got round to answering it.They somehow sound louder at night than during the day.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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