Identify this songbird

March 10, 2010 9:54 AM

I heard a bird outside my window yesterday. I'm in Western New York State. The only way to describe its song is a slow 'yoo-hoo...' performed as a whistle. Didn't see the bird. Heard it at about 10AM local time. I've been pouring over whatbird.com, but their categories of calls don't seem to fit what I heard. I'm happy to provide more information if I can. Yesterday's weather was a completely clear sky, with high temps in the mid 50's F.

What bird did I hear outside my window yesterday?

posted by Wild_Eep to Science & Nature (9 answers total)

Morning Dove?
posted by Rad_Boy at 9:57 AM on March 10, 2010

Response by poster: Not a Mourning Dove. I think I'll have to record myself whistling.
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:02 AM on March 10, 2010

Best answer: Chickadee?

(there is a sample song about 1/2 way down the page, on the right)
posted by ArgentCorvid at 10:03 AM on March 10, 2010

Response by poster: It sounded like this [mp3]
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:07 AM on March 10, 2010

(If I was trying to describe the chickadee song I'd say it sounds more like a rusty swing.)
posted by y6t5r4e3w2q1 at 11:56 AM on March 10, 2010

I wonder if it is a phoebe.

If you had this book, 250 North American Songbirds, you could play it where you sit.
posted by mearls at 1:51 PM on March 10, 2010

250 North American Songbirds, nothin'.

I give you the Macaulay Library, the world's largest natural sound and video archive of animal behavior.
posted by zamboni at 1:59 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Black capped chickadees will often come to investigate if you whistle their calls back to them. Thankfully, they're easy to mimic.
posted by klanawa at 6:26 PM on March 10, 2010

Response by poster: Black capped chickadees will often come to investigate if you whistle their calls back to them. Thankfully, they're easy to mimic.

Very true. There's a park nearby that specializes in hand-feeding chickadees.
posted by Wild_Eep at 8:09 AM on March 11, 2010