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Can anyone identify this night-peeping bird? (1 Viewer)

dhavlena

Member
HI
This bird (attached MP3) has been "peeping" up
a storm all-NIGHT-long, non-stop (except when it
darts from tree to tree) for the past two nights.
It's very loud. So far have not been able to get
a glimpse of it. I SHOULD know what it is,
but don't. I live in the woods, near the northern tip
of Michigan's lower peninsula, about 9 miles from
Lake Huron, within sight of large Mullett Lake.
THANKS!
 

Attachments

  • unknown-bird---NONSTOP-6-4-2010.mp3
    178.4 KB · Views: 14,539
Your description remembers me on the Little Owl - fledlings we had in our courtyard last year. Not even one quiet moment.
Not familiar with US - bird calls in nighttime.
 
Hi dhavlena,

and as this is your first post, welcome to Birdforum.

I listened to your MP3 file and it is sort of bird-like, but it is quite possible that you are not hearing a bird at all, and my best guess would be some kind of herp (amphibian or reptile). It might be a tree frog, but I'm no expert in the herp field. I do remember reading about this type of night calling on a Texas forum a few years ago, and the culprit was a herp, but in this case, it was a short chirp or peep like call, and went on all night!

 
Hi dhavlena,

and as this is your first post, welcome to Birdforum.

I listened to your MP3 file and it is sort of bird-like, but it is quite possible that you are not hearing a bird at all, and my best guess would be some kind of herp (amphibian or reptile). It might be a tree frog



completely agree - this is a spring peeper
 
Unknown night-peeping bird

HI and thanks much for your two replies --
Well, I SAW the thing fly several times-- not nearly well
enough to ID it, but it was a bird! When I got near to it it flew
frantically to other trees across the yard, travelling
maybe 100' each time. My first thought was a "non-bird"
but......
I have two programs/CDs of bird songs and
carefully went thru each -- but nothing even came
close to what I was hearing. Again THANKS!
Dennis at the Mackinac Straits, northern Michigan
PS: As an aside, When I was down south, I heard
almost the identical "peeping" in a swamp and verified
that is was (of all things) young alligators! Once
they get older, the stop peeping & start roaring.
But don't have many alligators up here in the north!!
 
peeping bird

Hi
With all due respect, working as a naturalist for the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, and after years of maintaining a backyard pond specifically for frogs, as well as living at the edge of a large marshy area, I intimately know
spring peepers as well as other frogs & while this indeed does resemble a spring peeper, it's not. This bird flew, as I watched and heard, from one side of our back-yard to the other. Sincerely -
Dennis
 
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peeping night bird

I have attached another MP3 that I recorded as I walked about 100'
towards it. The only time it shut up was when it flew when I got too close.
There are trees all around my yard and the glimpses of this bird were
not good. What I saw was more or less a blur -- at least the size of
a robin but being in the trees, nothing identifiable. Sorry to bother
you folks with this, but this bird has me stumped. Shortly after it
"relocated" to another tree, the peeping sound would commence and
the direction of the sound corresponded to the new position that I
saw it assume. During the time I was out there, the thing "relocated"
several times. This "peeping" was very loud & clear -- we could even
hear it inside the house, with shut windows. Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • peepng-bird--another recording.mp3
    989.4 KB · Views: 4,049
I would agree it doesn't quite sound right for spring peeper, but it's no bird I know of.

I've never seen or heard one, but what about a flying squirrel?
 
Interesting. Did you get a sense of the relative size of the bird you saw?

I've heard young gators peep, too. Not a sound you'd expect a saurian to make!

I have flying squirrels around my house and I've never heard a sound out of any of them. I doubt that's the culprit.

Calling for that long is strange behavior in a bird other than begging young in my experience. So: nocturnal bird, constant vocalization, staying in one general area... a newly fledged owl as another poster suggested? The baby barred owls near me don't make that kind of racket, but perhaps other species do?
 
Interesting.Calling for that long is strange behavior in a bird other than begging young in my experience. So: nocturnal bird, constant vocalization, staying in one general area... a newly fledged owl as another poster suggested?

I agree, if indeed avian it's hard to imagine what else it could be.
 
Hi dhavlena,

I've heard the exact same peeping sound under the same circumstances you've described. A bird that sounds like a Spring Peeper, but calls from high in a tree at night for hours on end, and hops from tree to tree. It's quite loud, and can be heard through closed windows. (I've never seen it, though.)

It's definitely NOT a Spring Peeper, because it calls from September to April, and the Spring Peepers around here (Connecticut) *only* call in the spring (early March to late May), and (from what I've heard anyway), they call from low brushy areas at or near the sides of ponds or small lakes, not up in the trees. The peeper I've heard is calling from the very tops of the trees (oaks and maples) on our mostly wooded property.

Spring Peepers also tend to quit their peeping around midnight, while I've heard our mystery tree-top peeper at 2:00AM and 4:00AM. And Spring Peepers usually peep in a large chorus. It's rare to hear only one peeping at a time; that usually happens only for a short while when the temperature is a bit chilly for all but one extra-hardy frog.

The best bet for an ID I've seen so far is the Swainson's Thrush, which makes a *somewhat* similar call while flying overhead at night during its migrations. And several people I've seen online have described the Swainson's as "sounding like a Spring Peeper." But I've listened to several Swainson's Thrush flight-call recordings, and I think it's a bit different: softer, breathier, thinner and sometimes more of a "wep" than a "peep." Not as "urgent," as you say (good word choice), either. And Swainson's Thrushes reportedly migrate in huge flocks, so that you can hear hundreds of them peeping overhead all night long. What I've (and it sounds like you've) heard is a single bird that stays in one general area, at most hopping from tree to tree. Perhaps what we've heard is a louder variation of the flight call, when the thrush is resting in a treetop before continuing the migration?

I listened to the 8th Flying Squirrel recording and thought it sounded pretty different.

But I'm not sure about that Swainson's Thrush ID. It's definitely been driving me nuts that I haven't been able to solve this mystery! I'll keep looking and post if I find anything interesting.
 
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Night chirping bird, I hear this chirp/peep all night long. I'm in Eastern PA & in the same tree that I hear the chirping @ night, I see an Owl in during the day. Is it a baby owl?
 
night-peeping bird

I realize this thread is a few years old, but I just came across it. I have had the exact same sound in my backyard for the past few months and it has been driving me crazy!! We started hearing it sometime during the winter as all the windows were shut and the furnace was running. I thought the furnace had a squeaking belt at first, but the sound continued when the furnace wasn't running. Then I changed the batteries in the smoke detectors as I thought one of those was making the noise. Haha All winter we were baffled. Then last night I heard it again. The weather is nice, so the windows are open and I realized it must be a bird. But what kind???
Has anyone ever figured this out? It is driving me nuts just not knowing!
I live in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
 
I live near Richmond, VA and have just started hearing the same bird at night in the past week. I don't remember ever hearing it before. Still no ID?
 
I'm hearing the same sound, and like pkozi, live in southwestern PA. It's not just something I noticed this year, but it's persistent enough to make me search for any definitive answers as to what's making that sound!

I'll definitely follow up if I learn anything!
 
Night peeping bird

Found this site while trying to identify the bird that is peeping in my backyard. They have been around for a month now and are most certainly birds. I live in New Orleans and since I live in a bird sanctuary I am used to all sorts of bird calls, but this one is new. I have seen them on occasion but this evening there were about 10 of these birds "peeping" at the top of their little lungs. They forage in my and surrounding neighbors backyards and are only active in the late afternoon and continue all night long. My husband said they sort of looked like female bluejays to him, about the right size actually, but they are not jays. I am going to try to get a pic tomorrow. Maybe someone in your group will be able to identify the night time peepers. Meanwhile, they live happily in an ancient Live Oak tree in my back yard.
 
I'm glad to see the poster (Kayava) from Richmond, VA - I'm in Goochland (just west of Richmond) and I'm hearing this same exact thing for the very first time. I've lived here almost 23 years and I haven't heard this bird until about a week ago.

We found some spring peepers in the house recently (they came in with the plants when I brought the plants indoors because of the cold temps) and I thought maybe the little guys were becoming active again when the weather warmed up temporarily. But it's not quite the same call. OP's recordings (especially that second one, which is more clear) nail it exactly.

The first few nights there were multiple peepers - must've been maybe 6-8 individuals. All high in the trees in the backyard (mostly evergreens, if that matters). That has tapered over the last week or so to only one or two calling at any given time.

I hear it only just after it's too dark to see them. They'll be right next to the deck and still I can't get a glimpse. Had one perched on the chimney tonight but was gone by the time I got to the door to look out. They're nervous - not like the robins or mockingbirds that just look at you sideways if you get to close. These birds are quick to relocate at the first disturbance.

Definitely a bird. But what kind?
 

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