Name this bird (Romanian edition)
June 23, 2017 12:47 PM Subscribe
A bird has taken up residence in a tree outside my apartment and its constant, repetitive calls at night are driving me nuts. I am hoping it will calm my nerves slightly if I at least know what type of bird it is.
As of a few nights ago, without fail, as soon as dusk hits, my new neighbour starts calling at around 1 second intervals for more-or-less the entire night.
The regularity of the call and constancy of the pitch initially led me to believe that someone's car alarm was misbehaving, but, after pacing the street outside, I have now identified the source of the sound to be a particular tree (right outside my bedroom!), and I believe I caught sight of the bird (too dark to see details however).
I recorded the sound of the call, which can be heard here.
I live in Bucharest, Romania, and have done so for several years, however this is the first time I have encountered this bird and its annoyingly rhythmic call.
Can anyone help me to identify what it might be?
As of a few nights ago, without fail, as soon as dusk hits, my new neighbour starts calling at around 1 second intervals for more-or-less the entire night.
The regularity of the call and constancy of the pitch initially led me to believe that someone's car alarm was misbehaving, but, after pacing the street outside, I have now identified the source of the sound to be a particular tree (right outside my bedroom!), and I believe I caught sight of the bird (too dark to see details however).
I recorded the sound of the call, which can be heard here.
I live in Bucharest, Romania, and have done so for several years, however this is the first time I have encountered this bird and its annoyingly rhythmic call.
Can anyone help me to identify what it might be?
Birds generally only call during daylight hours, and a random chirp here or there might occur at night, but not what you're describing.
It does sound like a frog, though.
posted by cooker girl at 1:26 PM on June 23, 2017
It does sound like a frog, though.
posted by cooker girl at 1:26 PM on June 23, 2017
Best answer: It sounds like a Eurasian scops owl.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 1:40 PM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 1:40 PM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'd say it's probably a nightingale. From Wikipedia (highlights mine):
Common nightingales are so named because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for more than 1,000 years, being highly recognisable even in its Old English form nihtgale, which means "night songstress". Early writers assumed the female sang when it is in fact the male. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. ... Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo, absent from the song of thrush nightingale. It has a frog-like alarm call.
Some examples here (note the huge variety of sounds). And if you ever want more of it, here's four hours' worth.
posted by miorita at 2:06 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Common nightingales are so named because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for more than 1,000 years, being highly recognisable even in its Old English form nihtgale, which means "night songstress". Early writers assumed the female sang when it is in fact the male. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. ... Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo, absent from the song of thrush nightingale. It has a frog-like alarm call.
Some examples here (note the huge variety of sounds). And if you ever want more of it, here's four hours' worth.
posted by miorita at 2:06 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: More on the Eurasian scops owl from Sir David Attenborough: "When a vagrant scops owl turned up near Oxford one summer, local residents mistook it for a malfunctioning car alarm."
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 2:25 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 2:25 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yeah, I'm seconding scops owl. Compare scops call to the froglike nightingale alarm call
posted by theweasel at 2:26 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by theweasel at 2:26 PM on June 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yes, scratch my nightingale, it's obviously the owl. If you're interested, it's ciuș in Romanian (link includes a map with it's usual range, which is ... not Bucharest); here's another short article in Romanian discussing the bird (which is apparently tiny, weighs at best just over 100 g) with a video; and here's a Romanian Reddit discussion with ther aggravated Bucureșteni.
posted by miorita at 4:19 PM on June 23, 2017
posted by miorita at 4:19 PM on June 23, 2017
That sounds like a tree frog to me.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:38 PM on June 23, 2017
posted by humboldt32 at 4:38 PM on June 23, 2017
Response by poster: Yes, it looks like the owl - many thanks!
With regard to the tree frog comments, I should have added to my original question that, when I think I caught sight of the bird, it flew to another tree and the sound moved, so I am pretty certain it is a not a frog.
Thanks again for all the prompt suggestions!
posted by oclipa at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
With regard to the tree frog comments, I should have added to my original question that, when I think I caught sight of the bird, it flew to another tree and the sound moved, so I am pretty certain it is a not a frog.
Thanks again for all the prompt suggestions!
posted by oclipa at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh my god, I have been baffled for months by the exact same sound in the valley below my house in Madrid!! I also thought it was a car alarm at first.
Thank you so much for asking this question that I didn't even know I needed! It's nice to know that such far-flung parts of Europe are connected by a common bird.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 8:05 AM on June 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thank you so much for asking this question that I didn't even know I needed! It's nice to know that such far-flung parts of Europe are connected by a common bird.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 8:05 AM on June 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by soren_lorensen at 1:20 PM on June 23, 2017