[lmhall2000]

Any good southern birders out there? I've lived in the south 35 of my 37 years...and I've atleast familiar with most birds. I often hear the whipoorwill or bob-white and know the common chirps of most birds...atleast to know it's a common chirp.

But early in the morning (around 7am) I was walking through a fairly dense forested area and heard a sound I've never heard before. I'm going to try and describe it as best I can....it was a single "bawwp" that lasted for a solid second and you could almost feel the echo in your body..it repeated itself in a rhthym doing the bawwp on every 3rd or 4th second...it was sooo strong and resonant...it had to have come from a fairly large bird...I looked all around but was on a time schedule with my walking and it sounded as if it were coming from high up in the tall Alabama pines that I couldn't see through well. It went on with it's chiming for 10 minutes and I can walk a 2/3 a mile in that time frame and I could still hear it after that time...

Are there any places where I can listen to bird calls and any ideas on which birds you might think I should start with? I'm taking my kids back there on Saturday morning to see if we hear it again. It's just one of those moments where you hear it and you go "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT???" We're new to living in AL, but I've never heard that call in TN or GA or even southern AL before. I'm a big walker and have taken long morning walks most of my life and never heard that sound. Thanks!
Tara

[birdman]

I have absolutely no idea about birds in Alabama - or the rest of the US for that matter, but perhaps you could to an Alta Vista Audi Seach for American Bittern.

Don't know if your bitterns make the same booming noise as ours, but it sounds like the kind of sound you have described.

[prairiemerlin]

This is quite possibly the call of the Common Nighthawk. They are closely related to Whip-poor-wills, and not hawks. They catch insects in flight, often making the odd calls. They are fairly large, and brownish. During the hot hours of the day they sit on fence posts, branches or building tops, where their camoflauged plumaged helps them to blend in. They lay their eggs on the ground, with no nest, or sometimes on gravel rooftops. Here is a link to a site about Common Nighthawks, and there is a recording of the nighthawk's voice on there too.
http://www.percevia.com/explorer/db/...87/target.aspx

[birdpotter]

Sounds like a bittern to me also. And if you've never heard it before, it is perplexing and assume.

But I could be wrong.

[Grousemore]

Originally Posted by lmhall2000

But early in the morning (around 7am) I was walking through a fairly dense forested area and heard a sound I've never heard before....I looked all around but was on a time schedule with my walking and it sounded as if it were coming from high up in the tall Alabama pines that I couldn't see through well. It went on with it's chiming for 10 minutes and I can walk a 2/3 a mile in that time frame and I could still hear it after that time...

Unlikely to be Bittern from these observations...

[lmhall2000]

I listened to both the bittern and the nighthawk (boy, I LOVE That site!) Neither sounded like the sound but the pattern of the nighthawk call was the closest...it's timing was the same I heard....but the sound was off...the nighthawk sounded more like a "bwweep" or "nweek" and was a much weaker sound than this booming noise. Generally, when I hear a bird's call it fades out after going 50-100 yards...but this thing was as booming as a peacock's call (we have a neighbor that has those ) but it just sounded deeper...I'm going to go and ask the folks that live in that area if they've heard it before. If I can I'll take my video camera and see if I can't capture atleast the sound on it this Saturday...

My kids are laughing at me because I keep repeating the call it made so I don't forget...they think I'm going off my rocker...but they're equally intrigued as to what this thing is...

Thanks!
Tara

[njlarsen]

Long-eared owl?

Niels

[birdman]

Originally Posted by birdman

I have absolutely no idea about birds in Alabama - or the rest of the US for that matter, but perhaps you could to an Alta Vista Audi Seach for American Bittern.

Don't know if your bitterns make the same booming noise as ours, but it sounds like the kind of sound you have described.

Just reread your description, and noticed the mention of pines... I think that means I'm a million miles out!!!

[birdman]

Originally Posted by Grousemore

Unlikely to be Bittern from these observations...

Ah.. Trevor... you noticed!!!

[birdpotter]

Yep, I just look at the description of the sound and dismissed the rest.

So what it is then?

[affe22]

If the sound was kind of gravely and deep, I'd look at the sounds Green or Great Blue Herons make. I would be more inclined to think it may have been a Great Blue because Green Herons make a "Scow" sound.

[affe22]

Just thinking along the Heron line, Black-crowned Night Herons also have that deep, scratchy, attention getting sound.

[doglady123]

Just a guess but I live in North Georgia and the Pilated Woodpecker is really loud and booming like that...the kind that you can hear for a very long way...and turn and say 'What was THAT?'