What Bird Is This?
June 9, 2015 11:51 AM Subscribe
I've heard this bird ever since childhood, but have never been able to identify it.
I've heard this bird ever since childhood, but have never been able to identify it. I've also searched extensively on various websites. The bird has a high-pitched singsong call, with a slight tremble in its voice. It sounds adorable, and I'd love to learn what it is!
I'm located just outside of Oakland (California), and used to reside in the Livermore area; I've heard the bird in both locations. The calls seemed to peak between February and April.
The only place that I've found this bird's call is in a Netflix documentary (I have never seen the bird itself). The call is about 9 minutes into the video, and it can be heard in the background. One of the birds is (I'm almost positive) a Dark-Eyed Junco, with the rapid laser-gun call. The other bird that you hear is the one I'm searching for.
The link to the video is: http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70245168&trkid=7882978
If the link does not work, then here is how to find the video on Netflix:
1. Search for "Nature's Great Events (2009)".
2. Click on the Episode entitled "The Great Salmon Run" (Season 1, Ep. 2).
3. Jump to about 9:00.
Thank you for your help!
I've heard this bird ever since childhood, but have never been able to identify it. I've also searched extensively on various websites. The bird has a high-pitched singsong call, with a slight tremble in its voice. It sounds adorable, and I'd love to learn what it is!
I'm located just outside of Oakland (California), and used to reside in the Livermore area; I've heard the bird in both locations. The calls seemed to peak between February and April.
The only place that I've found this bird's call is in a Netflix documentary (I have never seen the bird itself). The call is about 9 minutes into the video, and it can be heard in the background. One of the birds is (I'm almost positive) a Dark-Eyed Junco, with the rapid laser-gun call. The other bird that you hear is the one I'm searching for.
The link to the video is: http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70245168&trkid=7882978
If the link does not work, then here is how to find the video on Netflix:
1. Search for "Nature's Great Events (2009)".
2. Click on the Episode entitled "The Great Salmon Run" (Season 1, Ep. 2).
3. Jump to about 9:00.
Thank you for your help!
White-Throated Sparrow, perhaps? They're largely a bird of Eastern and Northern North America, but they winter in the coastal counties of California.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:10 PM on June 9, 2015
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:10 PM on June 9, 2015
No white-throated sparrows out here -- we get white-crowned sparrows in the fall/winter, and they migrate in with the juncos. However, that is not a white-crowned sparrow. It sounds very similar, but the white-crowns have a song that's more than two notes long. Sometimes they get stuck and will only sing part of it, but this isn't that.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:26 PM on June 9, 2015
posted by mudpuppie at 1:26 PM on June 9, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you for all of the answers so far!
I think you're onto something, mudpuppie. The birds that I've been hearing all along have been singing songs with more than two notes. It's usually the two notes heard in the video, followed by a note somewhere in-between the two, and then three additional notes.
posted by Jangatroo at 2:36 PM on June 9, 2015
I think you're onto something, mudpuppie. The birds that I've been hearing all along have been singing songs with more than two notes. It's usually the two notes heard in the video, followed by a note somewhere in-between the two, and then three additional notes.
posted by Jangatroo at 2:36 PM on June 9, 2015
Could you describe the call you're talking about? There's a couple of birds in the video around the 9min mark. Are you talking about the two-note high-low whistle?
Is it a black-capped Chickadee? That might be a little far south for the Black Capped. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id
If you browse taxonomically on All About Birds, you can listen to a bunch of different "typical voices" all on the same page. I start with Passeriformes of course, since those are your songbirds.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 2:39 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is it a black-capped Chickadee? That might be a little far south for the Black Capped. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id
If you browse taxonomically on All About Birds, you can listen to a bunch of different "typical voices" all on the same page. I start with Passeriformes of course, since those are your songbirds.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 2:39 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Made of Star Stuff: Yes, it is the two-note high-low whistle you hear. I believe the other one is a Junco.
The Black-Capped Chickadee and the White-Crowned Sparrow are the two that I was originally thinking that it was, after investigating. But I think you're right; the Chickadee resides a bit too far north.
posted by Jangatroo at 3:39 PM on June 9, 2015
The Black-Capped Chickadee and the White-Crowned Sparrow are the two that I was originally thinking that it was, after investigating. But I think you're right; the Chickadee resides a bit too far north.
posted by Jangatroo at 3:39 PM on June 9, 2015
I'm a terrible ear-birder, but if I heard the call you meant in the Netflix link, my first thought was "sparrow" and from there I went to something like song sparrow or white-crowned sparrow.
We don't have the black-capped chickadee here. Chestnut-backed, yes, but but not black-capped in the Bay Area.
posted by rtha at 3:41 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
We don't have the black-capped chickadee here. Chestnut-backed, yes, but but not black-capped in the Bay Area.
posted by rtha at 3:41 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
It sounds like White-throated Sparrow to me, although only the first part of the song is audible. White-throated Sparrow does winter in coastal California, and would likely start singing in late winter/early spring before migrating out of the area.
posted by jkent at 5:14 PM on June 9, 2015
posted by jkent at 5:14 PM on June 9, 2015
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This guide (pdf) to songbirds in the Easy Bay, combined with resources (recordings of songs and calls) at the Cornell Bird Lab, might help get you there.
I'm sure rtha will be along shortly with the right answer.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:45 PM on June 9, 2015