What's the bird called that called this bird call?

June 28, 2020 3:52 PM

The bird was heard but not seen yesterday in Pine County, Minnesota, USA, in thick woodland along the Willard Munger State Trail. The call had an odd, reverb-y, quality, like the bird was creating a couple different tones simultaneously. There seemed to be a call-and-response with other nearby birds happening. Here's a brief clip of some recordings pasted together (with the gain boosted and EQ'd to reduce electronic hiss). Here's an original clip (not boosted or EQ'd) for purists. Any idea what it is?
posted by theory to Science & Nature (7 answers total)

Best answer: Veery.
posted by jkent at 3:56 PM on June 28, 2020 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Orthogonal to your question, Cornell Lab of Ornithology's BirdNET has a lovely app for Android phones which identifies birds from their calls.
posted by anadem at 4:08 PM on June 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yeah the Veery Thrush has a weird song. I think it sounds all liquidy and electronic... like an underwater robot I guess.
posted by Gray Duck at 4:08 PM on June 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: In case it wasn't obvious that's the name of the bird.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:10 PM on June 28, 2020

Best answer: If you like the veery's call, you might also enjoy the calls of its relatives: hermit thrush, wood thrush, Swainson's thrush.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:43 PM on June 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yep, veery. I guessed that's what it would be just from your description, before I listened to it.
posted by Redstart at 7:41 PM on June 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Since the question has been answered, I thought I'd share this resource on bird sounds from around the world - with their entries for the Veery here.
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 10:51 PM on June 28, 2020