During the day this sound is normal.....

During the day the sound of birds singing is normal right?? Ok well how about birds singing at night?? NOT normal in my book! Has anyone else here ever heard Mocking birds singing at night?? It seems soo strange to me to go out and it be pitch black dark out there and instead of hearing the crickets chirping...I hear this bird singing as if it were in the middle of the day!!
Something that is EVEN more strange to me is last night I was sitting on my back porch and all of a sudden I heard a flock of geese fly over!! Again it was NIGHT time!! What has gotton into these crazy feathered friends of ours??

Is there any meaning to this??
I mean like old wives tales?? I know my Mother says that if you hear a mocking bird singing at night means someone close to you is going to die :( I hope and pray this old tale ISN'T true!!

Anyone else ever heard things like this??

If mockingbirds singing at night means someone is going to die, then everyone in this neighborhood should be dead! LOL.

I have often remarked to my DH how strange it is to hear birds loudly chirping at 3:00 AM, just as if it were the middle of the day. What are they doing up at that hour?

The only thing I can figure, so far, is that perhaps there are people walking past that disturb the birds' sleep. Yes, some of the neighborhood young-uns are out and about that that time.

Funny I should find this thread. The night before my Mom passed away I took a breather and stepped outside at just before 4 AM. It was pitch dark and no sight of the sun rising, but the birds were chirping all over the place. I tried to figure out what type of bird it was and decided on robins. I thought that was a little strange. My Mom died the next afternoon.

Maybe this is normal for birds, and I'm not normally awake and outside at that time of day, but they were really raising a ruckus out there, and made me notice.

Tonight it was very late when we left my Mom's house after the vigil, (funeral is tomorrow), and I couldn't hear a bird singing anywhere.

I don't know whether to be creeped out or what after reading this. I just watched "The Fog" and things like this creep me out a little bit. I get creeped out when all the dogs in the neighborhood start howling together in chorus, as well.

Are we around a full moon? Like yesterday or day before? It is till quite full tonight. Hmmmmm - maybe that effects the birds...... as well as other animals.

Sorry Karrie, I didn't mean to creep you out. I just thought it was more than a coincidence that I experienced this very same thing recently, then found it posted. Actually, I would love to hear the birds sing every night.

I don't know when the full moon is, and I really don't want to either.

With my post, I was merely commenting on my very recent experience. I choose to think of it in a positive way. I thought about deleting my response and then thought better of it. I'll leave it for a bit and if my response results in this thread getting ugly, I'll delete it as soon as possible.

Please accept my apologies.

O Joan, not to worry. Your post didn't creep me out whatsoever.
Because in the olden days they really did believe in it. If my GrandMother heard a bird singing at night, she'd get up and put the scissors in the lamp. Why?? I don't know I just rememeber my Mother telling me about it.
Could really be just a old wives tale though. Yet some folks are true strong belivers in all the wives tales.

Actually I don't know why they choose to sing at night. I just think it is super strange.
I've heard this before and nothing has happened to anyone I know and love, so I am left to wonder what the real reason is.

Joan, I'm soo sorry to hear about your Mother's passing.
((((((((((((((Joan)))))))))))))

I don't know a lot about birds, but in my part of the south when the Mockingbirds start singing at night it means they are staking out their territory for courting and spring is here. They are really aggressive birds, and when they have babies in the nest nobody is safe! They swoop down and dive-bomb your head, and the poor dogs and cats really get it! There have been several videos on the "Funniest Videos" program on Animal Planet. I have one this spring that has staked out the telephone pole in front of my house. You never see them at bird feeders unless you have bugs there. They don't eat seed, only bugs.

Between the Mockingbird singing full throttle at night, and the Woodpecker that has a passion for my metal downspout at daybreak, spring can get very noisy at my house. (grin)
Pati

JoanJ, I', sorry to hear of your mother's death. May you find peace and comfort in the love of JESUS and knowing that you are being prayed for.

Birds singing in the early morning hours isn't that unusual hear either. We have a night hawk who screeches about every 20 seconds all night. We also have had flocks of geese and ducks fly over at night.

I enjoy the birds singing at nite. One of my favorites nights was at the Tenn Roundup. After nearly everyone (including Howie and GW) went to bed I sat by the fire for quite a while and listened while a mocking bird went throught its whole repetoire! Over and over it must've sang 19 different riffs (I counted, over and over...there may have even bee more)! It wasn't a pitch dark nite but neither was it a bright moon.

Yes, folks, there is a full moon going on now. (Remember, Easter is chosen by some religions to be the first full moon after the spring equinox.) It's been very bright here at nite! (I'm a night owl, but you won't hear me chirping...sorry folks!)

JoanJ, this is the first I heard about your Mom. Hoping you and yours are doing well during this time. We're here for ya!

Joan, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. My thoughts and prayers will be with you tomorrow.
Pati

I enjoy the birds singing at nite. One of my favorites nights was at the Tenn Roundup. After nearly everyone (including Howie and GW) went to bed I sat by the fire for quite a while and listened while a mocking bird went throught its whole repetoire! Over and over it must've sang 19 different riffs (I counted, over and over...there may have even bee more)! It wasn't a pitch dark nite but neither was it a bright moon.

~~

Shoe, I was JUST thinking that. Howie and I will always remember and cherish that night.

Once early spring comes here, the birds start singing bright and early - somewhere around 3:30 or 4:00am. With the time change, it may be a little later now.

Well I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who has crazy birds that sing at night. Makes me feel a little bit better LOL

This bird doesn't have a certain time, he just sings. No matter if its midnight or 2 a/m.
Strange thing is as a kid I don't remember hearing a bird sing at night? I mean all the kids in the neighborhood would be out playing way after dark and all we ever saw or heard were bats. (we use to throw rocks at them and watch them swoop down at them LOL we were mean kids)

Guess since I'm grown I've learned to listen more :)

Dear Joan, I didn't know your mother had recently passed. I am so sorry. Take care.

Sorry to read about your mother's passing Joan...my thoughts are with you.

Come spring the geese are flying over us non-stop...it's the rebirth of the land and they aren't wasting any time.

The mockingbird sings at night here sometimes. I think it's just in the spring and summer when he's establishing his territory. They are very territorial.

My husband says that when he was a kid, the mockingbird would sing so loud in the tree in their yard that they would spray him with the garden hose to try to get him to go away, or at least shut up.

I'm glad to hear it's a normal thing, and not something superstitious, :) Sorry to hear about your mother's passing, Joan.

I hear lots of birds singing through the night. It is springtime and they need to find their mates and can't waste time waiting for the daylight. If they waited till daylight their best mate prospect may have already flown over and be gone.

I love to hear the birds singing because that means spring is here! My little warbler is singing his heart out right now outside my office window. I saw him today hopping around on my apricot tree singing and picking the flowers off it and eating the necter. He is so cute I don't mind him thinning the apricots.

JoanJ sorry to hear of your Mom's passing, I know how you feel I just lost my Mom two weeks ago!
(((((((((((HUG)))))))))))
FP

I have a birdroom where my pet birds are kept. If there is a full moon or other bright light they will start singing as if it is daylight.We have had some really bright moons lately here.
Most mockingbirds like to perch on the highest lookout. Usually they are on top of a light post so they also think it is daylight.Or they are so high up that they can see light above a tree etc.
Other than the nighthawks and owls who can see in the dark, most other birds are blind or nearly blind at night.
When I have a bird loose in the room, I wait until night and turn the light out. You can then walk right up to the bird and catch it.
I have heard that a bird pecking at the window is a sign of death, but not of one singing at night.

This is starting to make more sense to me now :)

Mockingbirds always sing here at night, mainly in spring and summer..., out on the front porch last night(2am)lol..listening to quail, whip-o-whill's,owls,night hawks, and yes a mockingbird.., Also when the Great Blue Heron flies from the pond at night and is over head, he sounds like gators growling or grunting, an eerie sound. And Molly, geese and ducks migrate at night, and is very natural.. I love it when they go over every year..The geese are as loud as trains at times. Have you ever heard a Peacock scream at night? If not a thing you are used to hearing, it will scare the daylights out of you..Sounds just like a woman scream for mercy and her dear life. I sit outside on the front porch almost nightly, night sounds are the best..Right now, the frogs and crickets are really at it..


Larkie

Larkie...I'm jealous...

...when I was a young'n, in the mountains of NC, me and my GrandParents lived in a 3 (almost four) room house. We all slept in one bedroom, me on a "skinny bed", made just for me. One day I came home from city school and found that my GrandFather (Big Rex) had put in a window right over my bed! The window must've been 3 ft wide and 3 feet tall and was the only window on that side of the house; it was a wooden framed window that opened inwards (over the head of my skinnybed).

I have an idea Granny insisted on that window being put in, maybe for airflow thru-out the room but just as importantly cuz she reckoned we were really running thru the Vick's Vapo-Rub! (It was not unusual for me to get my chest doused w/it on nites of coughing fits.)

One of the most wonderful memories (to this very day) was those nights when I would reach up and quietly open "my" window for some fresh air (thinking Granny and Big Rex were asleep), laying back down and all-of-a-sudden being sung to by the whipporwills. They really sang a good tune!

Granny's bed was near mine, catty-corner, and she knew when that window opened! (I didn't fool her!). She'd sometimes whisper, "that 'Will is having a good time...was your day as good, Little Rex?" (That was before most folks started callin' me 'Shoe.)

I'd say, "I ain't never had a bad day, Granny." (Sometimes you could hear my GrandFather, Big Rex, across the room in his bed, chuckle, roll over, and soon start snoring.) (At the time I didn't think he ever had a bad day either!)

Larkie, them whipporwills is special. Enjoy 'em!

You've got to be hearing Whippoorwills. I love the sound of them. Always makes me think of Hank Williams...."Have you heard the lonesome whippoorwill........I'm so lonesome I could cry' We have them all over in the summertime and they lull me to sleep. whippoorwill, whippoorwill....

This message was edited Apr 7, 2004 10:25 PM

Aren't there calls haunting, yet so soothing at the same time. I also think of the Hank Willams song, as it's one of my favorites...My front porch is my favorite room of my whole place.. I would be lost without it..A lot of things have been talked over and solved out on this old front porch...It's just a natural gathering place around here for most of my family and neighbor's (all family) out here on this farm..Poeple and animals alike.. All the dogs and cats love it too..

Larkie

Molly,
DO NOT FORGET to tie a knot in your sheet!! For some reason MaMa know's best! Remember that old saying, so do it! I haven't heard any here and we are only a mile apart.
Strange!!!!!!!!!!

Luv Ya,
Traci S

O yea I remember that one, but I think that was just for hoot owls. Thank goodness I haven't heard any of those!!
Guess if I don't want to hear them, I'll have to stay in the house at night LOL

Tie a know in the sheet? Why?

My Mother's Mother use to tie a knot in the bed sheet every time she heard a hoot owl or screech owl outside the window, and soon as the knot was tied....it would fly away.
My Mother use to tell us this when we were little and one summer night while we were all in the living room watching TV we had all the windows and doors open, and all of a sudden we heard a noise. As we listened we figured out it was in fact a hoot owl. Then Mama reached down and tied a knot in the blanket that layed across the back of the sofa.....with in just a few seconds, the owl was gone and we never heard it again.
Strange I know.....But I heard this with my own ears! So yea I still believe it to this very day :)
Most folks would say its just a old wives tale though.

I grew up with this, but we only used it for Screech Owls. It works too. Use the knot many a night when the owl would get in the dead tree across the road.
Pati

I don't mind hoot owls, but those screech owls are horrible.

I've never heard the sheet-tying thing before. I'd never be tying my sheet, then - I love owls. I've been known to wake up with the sheet knotted around me if it's been a restless night, though!

Shoe, I could just see that. What a cozy scene. I kin ye. :)

Okay Kimberly.... THROW caution to the winds! You might wake up dead and covered in screech owls!

Look at this 1899 article about whip-poor-will birds...Really neat. http://www.birdnature.com/jan1899/whippoorwill.html

You can see and listen to the whip-poor-will here:
http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=whip&curPageNum=1&recnum=BD0141

And the mockingbird here:
http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=mockingbird&curPageNum=2&recnum=BD0136

As you can hear, the mockingbird has quite a repertoire! :) Other birds in the same family include the catbird and various thrashers. http://www.enature.com/search/show_search_thumb.asp?curGroupID=1&display=1&area=99&searchText=mockingbird

GW, you're better than GOOGLE! Love that site.
Pati

Great! Thanks GW!

I played that Whip song over and over! (I should record it and sneak up to Alex's bedroom window with it one nite!) ;>)

Hey, where do you think I stop first on the information super highway, Pati? Google! 'Scept I am a huge fan of the eNature site and went directly to it this time.

Shoe, does Alex know the story? Wouldn't that be a lark...errr...no, not a lark, exactly, but fun!?

So, Mollybee - Which bird do you think it was serenading you?

":) Kimberley

Pretty sure its the ole mocking bird. After scouting around the yard I noticed a nest in the honeysuckle vine that is growing on the fence. That is the same area that the neighbors cat walks nightly...so that explains it for me! Guess that ole cat is getting a wee bit close to the nesting mocking bird and her eggs.
I just try to stay in the house late at night now, even though I know the reasons for this bird's singing....it is still spooky to me!! LOL Call me weird :)

Probably singing to lure the cat away from the nest. If the cat was close to the nest, it would be yakking at the cat and dive-bombing it.

Now you'll have to worry if it stops singing!

LOL Yea your right Judith.

We have a mocking bird that sings nighty, I never thought about the cat's next door on the hunt at nite. I've always wondered why they sang at nite so much. Makes good since.