• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bird that never (or rarely) sings at night? (USA) (1 Viewer)

J

Jonnardino

New member
Hello, all!

I honestly am not a birdwatcher or really a bird enthusiast of any kind. I am however writing a short story that involves birdwatching and I would love some help.

In my story there is a major plot point that focuses on a man figuring out the time of day only by identifying the calls and songs of different birds.

This leads to my question. Is there a specific bird that never, or at least very rarely, sings at night?

If you know of more than one type please list them all. I really appreciate any help I can get.
Thank you!
 
On behalf of staff and moderators a warm welcome to Birdforum.:t:

I have deleted your other post as it was identical to this one and this sub-forum is more suited to your question.

I would imagine there are lots of birds that never, or at least very rarely sing at night. Are you looking specifically for species that occur in North America?
 
chowchilla said:
On behalf of staff and moderators a warm welcome to Birdforum.:t:

I have deleted your other post as it was identical to this one and this sub-forum is more suited to your question.

I would imagine there are lots of birds that never, or at least very rarely sing at night. Are you looking specifically for species that occur in North America?
Click to expand...


Thank you very much, chowchilla!

Yes, somewhere in North America. Preferably more towards the east as I'm more familiar with that area and it would make for easier (more experienced) writing.
 
To make a generalization, most birds do not sing at night. Only a few regularly call at night (such as owls), and a dozen or two may occasionally sing at night - I think particularly in the spring. Of course, just before dawn is another matter!

Do you want a very common bird or a less usual one? Any other parameters?
 
Gretchen said:
To make a generalization, most birds do not sing at night. Only a few regularly call at night (such as owls), and a dozen or two may occasionally sing at night - I think particularly in the spring. Of course, just before dawn is another matter!

Do you want a very common bird or a less usual one? Any other parameters?
Click to expand...

Second what Gretchen says - practically any "songbird" (your regular, perching bird) will only sing in daylight, or just before dawn. So, your problem may be one of too many choices - since birdsong in general is a morning phenomenon, having the character tell the time by hearing a specific song may not work (given that realism is important to your story).

One bird that will not work, I can tell you from direct experience, is the good old American Robin; this species is such an early riser, especially in spring, that you can often hear them chorusing mightily while it's still utterly pitch black outside.

Cardinals are not quite so keen, but they too sing in the dark sometimes (morning and evening).

Savannah Sparrow or Bobolink might work; they tend to wait until it's a bit warm outside before singing - I don't think I've ever heard one before actual sunrise. Both are common in E. North America, and both have distinct, easily recognizable songs.

Cheers,

P.C.
 
Woodpeckers are late risers which never emerge from their roost/nest holes until full daylight. They also tend to retire early. They don't "sing" but can be quite noisy--drumming, calling, excavating new nest/roost holes, pecking for food.
 
Anybody who can identify bird calls will also be able to identify a number of insects, frogs, squirrels, and other calls.

For example, the grey tree frog, hyla versicolor, has a very loud and distinctive call, which starts right at sunset and goes all night (in summer). Can't think of a daytime-only example right away, though.

What you hear will depend on the season...
 
Good example, and worth noting that some species of cicada only emerge at multi-year intervals, so you can identify the year (modulo 17 or 13) if you can ID the species.

Crickets, meanwhile, chirp at night, and the frequency of their chirps can be used to tell the temperature.
 
Peter C. said:
having the character tell the time by hearing a specific song may not work (given that realism is important to your story).
Click to expand...

Although not North America, rather Germany but interesting enough, I found this in the book "Vögel zu Gast im Garten" by Axel Gutjahr (Birds as guests in the garden)

A twitching clock heard in mid May:

04:00 Hrs Redstart
04:10 Hrs Robin
04:15 Hrs Blackbird
04:20 Hrs Wren
04:30 Hrs Cuckoo
04:40 Hrs Great Tit
04:50 Hrs Chiffchaff
05:00 Hrs Chaffinch
05:20 Hrs House Sparrow
05:30 Hrs Sunrise
05:40 Hrs Starling
 
I guess it depends on how urban an area is. Birds are known to sing at night if artificial light is constant near their nighttime perch; they also vocalize and move about on very cloudy days with low intensity of light.
And yes, in my neighborhood the hour between 4 and 5 AM is "when every bird sings in the dark". I have tried to determine the minute(s) when Scops Owl stops calling and daytime birds really start the dawn chorus, but it overlaps. Of course, the Nightingale never stops.
 
Thank you for the response!

Let me try to tighten the parameters for you.

The character is in a cabin or similar isolated building. The season can be whichever so as to allow whatever bird species. And preferably a less common bird would be great! But once again I'm not picky!
 
fugl said:
Woodpeckers are late risers which never emerge from their roost/nest holes until full daylight. They also tend to retire early. They don't "sing" but can be quite noisy--drumming, calling, excavating new nest/roost holes, pecking for food.
Click to expand...

Reuven_M said:
Cicadas are very characteristic of daytime in the summer.
Click to expand...

Jonnardino said:
Thank you for the response!

Let me try to tighten the parameters for you.

The character is in a cabin or similar isolated building. The season can be whichever so as to allow whatever bird species. And preferably a less common bird would be great! But once again I'm not picky!
Click to expand...

Well, if your goal is to show how extensive your character's knowledge about birds is, I don't suppose these would help, but the woodpecker and cicada seem quite safely full daytime sounds (as opposed to many birds that might be calling early at dawn or then again at other times of day). Does that fit the bill?
 
Last edited:
This question doesn't make much sense. Go spend a couple days in a small cabin. You'll be able to tell whether it's daytime or nighttime without having any knowledge of birds, without consulting any timepiece and without consulting anybody else or any communication devices. Even with a blindfold on. For one thing, it gets colder after sundown.
 
One could probably form a rough idea based on a combination of what is and what is not singing (in addition to other auditory cues such as insect sounds). I suggest this scenario, based in the East:

If we assume it is late spring/early summer, then in the dead of night there will be no bird song except Whip-poor-will, perhaps an occasional Barred Owl. Maybe a Northern Mockingbird if he's not mated yet. Around 3 or 4 am, let's say there's a bit of ambient light from a porch or street light, so the American Robins start up. All the other birds begin to chime at first light (whatever time that would be locally), beginning with canopy birds first (e.g. Eastern Wood-Pewee) followed by understory birds (Carolina Wren), and at sunrise the Whip-poor-will stops. A little after sunrise (20 minutes?) the woodpeckers start calling, and maybe another half hour before you're likely to hear an American Crow. Around 10 or 11 am, most of the birds begin trailing off, hawks are now soaring and maybe a Red-tailed Hawk will call, but the Red-eyed Vireo goes strong all through the heat of the afternoon. In late evening, the thrushes (Wood Thrush, American Robin) continue singing after most others have stopped, until nearly full dark. Then the night birds start up again.

It would be hard to be more exact without intimate local knowledge of a place though. It would be interesting to go out for the dawn chorus and note the exact time of the first song by each species, as Andy's reference for Germany.
 
I think a room (basement?) in a building in a large city would be a better setting than a log cabin as you would have a constant "white noise" of cars passing by (not so much here in suburbs as I can tell from my bed with eyes still closed whether it is past 5 AM as buses make characteristic noises), and the day-night temperature variation is probably smaller as concrete cools gradually and is coolest just before dawn.

In any case the distinction is probably "dawn"-"not dawn". And in my area we lose dawn chorus in summer once temperatures fail to fall below 30 Celsius during the night.
 
I visited Newfoundland and bought Roger Burrows' "Birds of Atlantic Canada". The great thing about this book is his voice descriptions. e.g.

White Crowned Sparrow - I gotta go wee wee now
White Throated Sparrow - Dear Sweet Canada Canada Canada
Fox Sparrow - All I have is what's here dear. won't you won't you take it?
Savannah Sparrow - tea tea tea today

There are many more.

If you can find out when they start singing.......
 
I have no idea, but the dear sweet canada canada canada does sound like it so it probably does Attatched is the file from xeno-canto
 

Attachments

  • cp0294b_xc_Zonotrichia_albicollis_24may2007_SteMarguerite.mp3
    661.7 KB · Views: 45
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

SueO
Stories Behind Birds You've Photographed
Replies
18
Views
867
Joe H
Joe H
N
Seeking insights for a birdwatching data analysis project
Replies
3
Views
573
jurek
jurek
K
Phillippine islands birding advice
Replies
4
Views
974
KidChino
K
M
Moving/Will miss my birds
Replies
10
Views
906
Kellyhrclr1
K
O
Help for birding in Spain Apr 2023
Replies
1
Views
900
temmie
temmie

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top