CLOSED: Bird sound ID

I know this is often hard, but I have to try because it's making me crazy. We have a bird in the backyard that says, "TWEET-diddle TWEET-diddle TWEET-diddle TWEET." The "TWEET" is up in pitch, and the "diddle" is lower. It repeats this phrase several times.

I did a google search and someone else described exactly the same thing, but got no conclusive answers. That person got suggestions for American Robin, Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, and Carolina Wren. I'm not convinced it's any of those:

Robin: seems to warble more unevenly and unpredictably than what I'm hearing
Mockingbird: seems to act more like a car alarm, repeating each phrase 4-5 times before switching to another; there is no change in what I'm hearing
Carolina Wren: much too fast for what I'm hearing

Could be Cardinal, but I can't find any sound clips (or even mention) of any cardinal sounds like this.

If anyone is musically inclined, it rhythmically feels like "1-and-a 2-and-a 3-and-a 4."

Any ideas?

my first thought based on your description was Carolina Wren. Here's a couple of references that might be useful.
http://naturebits.org/NoAmBirds/alphabetic.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=BBChekDM-8oC&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176&dq=tweet+deedle+bird+song&source=bl&ots=wrQ5WOAA2N&sig=gjDx1a9CfSuVbM3owFQml7_pYmg&hl=en&ei=Im5cSqnVPIyS8wSxo5HkDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

First one I thought of was Carolina Wren also. The first link below is the song and the second is the sound they make when they are 'upset' or possibly when the parent is alerting the fledglings to their presence or of danger, etc. Like I've often said, once you hear their song you'll ALWAYS know when they're around!


http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/gjk/carolina.wav

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmwav/h7180c2.mp3

lol - I'm going to go with mockingbird, based on your description that the phrase starts and ends with the same sound, there's a strong beat, and the tempo is much slower than the wren call. But that's more a guess. (I have a terrible time with the words that are supposed to represent the call's sound. They're never even close to the words I would have used to make the sound.) A lot of the time, mockingbirds are just sitting around, singing whatever phrase strikes their fancy based on something they've heard, until another one pops into their mind. But there are some calls that I guess are innate, they keep coming back to.

Robins do have some calls that have a strong rhythm, too, but there's a real different timbre to their voice. You should be able to eliminate one or the other real easily.

http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/index.php is another reference for some common birds.

Let us know when you work it out...

You and me both realbirdlady. I can never make sense of what it's actually supposed to sound like from reading it either. ;o) Except for Chickadee's. They pretty much sound just like it's written.

Good old Mockingbirds. I call them 'Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde' birds. And every Spring I get at least one pair coming to my deck to get American Cheese. Yep, you heard me right. It started out with one dominate bird coming about 4 years ago (who would take it from my hand) but last year a PAIR started coming and I do believe I helped them raise a couple of broods. This year they did the same. It's a HOOT! The one that would eat from my hand would also hang off the kitchen storm door to get my attention some times. They can be quite bold and demanding. ;o) Brown Thrushes are also mimics as are Starlings (as I'm sure you know already). Sometimes it's hard to think around our house what with all the TALKING! LOL I'm going to see if I can find a photo of one of my 'cheese birds' to post with this.

This message was edited Jul 19, 2009 3:00 AM