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Can't identify bird, have audio file/recording (1 Viewer)

PaulRB

Member
United Kingdom
Hi all, I have a bird that I can't identify from its call. Can anyone help?
  • I hear this bird only while at home, most days, a few times each day.
  • I'm not sure if it is around in winter, probably would not hear it from indoors with windows closed!
  • I live in West Yorkshire, UK, a couple of miles outside the Peak District national park. The area is moorland, around 1000ft/300m above sea level.
  • I have never seen the bird making the call, so I may have seen the bird but not associated it with the sound.
  • I have an audio recording in mp3/wav format. The sound is very clear in the recording.
  • BirdNET and Merlin apps cannot identify the bird from the recording
  • I have asked a work colleague who is a keen bird spotter but she cannot identify it.
MP3 file attached. Thanks for your help!

Paul
 

Attachments

  • audio_2022_04_08_07_42_09_1_1_1.mp3
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Last edited:
Hi Paul and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. Yes, indeed you can upload the recording here, using the Media icon above (the double-image to the right of the smiley)

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
 
Thanks, but the media icon only allows me to post a link, not upload a file. Does that mean I have to find another site to upload the file to, then post a link here to it?

When I try the upload video button and try to give it either MP3 or wav formats, I get an error.
 
Grrr..... my inexperience in uploading sound files (never done any LOL). Sorry.

Try the Attach files option under the message pane. I'm sure I've seen recordings uploaded directly.
 
Hope it works.... that way I'll have learnt something new today LOL
 
Hi Paul,
Welcome to Bird Forum, hope you enjoy it here.
Having listened to your sound file I will be honest, I think it is something other than a bird. It sounds rather mechanical to me. Could it be a smoke detector or such like that is low on batteries? Our smoke detector chirrups when the batteries are low, had me fooled for a couple of days when it first happened.
 
Hi Keith, thanks for the reply.

It's definitely nothing like that, I know the sounds our smoke alarms and CO alarm makes when the batteries get low. The sound appears to move around in different directions, sometimes louder, sometimes quieter, as though closer or further away, so pretty sure the source is moving around. It sounds natural to me, not electronic or mechanical. Usually the calls are in groups of 3, like in the recording, or occasionally groups of 2 or 4 calls together.

Could it be some animal other than a wild bird? It doesn't sound like any of my chickens or any of my neighbour's dogs, cats or ponies!
 
Hi Paul.... as this is proving so troublesome, I'll move your thread to the ID forum where more people will likely see it.
 
Thanks Delia, makes sense. I posted it in the Yorkshire section because that's where I live and only hear the call here. I'll update the original post and add location info.
 
You can download a bird call ID app UK for your smartphone from Warblr

Point your phone towards the sound of the bird call and it will tell you what it is, or what else it could be.
 
Thanks @dandy @Andy Strachan that's certainly the closest match I've heard so far. But it seems that's not the Carrion Crow's "normal" call. I searched for other recordings and they all sound like typical "crow" calls. Perhaps this is some special call the Carrion Crow makes, to communicate something in particular. I'm used to the various calls my chickens make to indicate finding food or spotting a ground predator Vs aerial predator. Perhaps this call means something specific to the crow?
 
You can download a bird call ID app UK for your smartphone from Warblr

Point your phone towards the sound of the bird call and it will tell you what it is, or what else it could be.
Thanks @CleoCat , I already tried BirdNET and Merlin apps, but they couldn't get a good match. BirdNET suggested Eurasian Coot but with a very very low confidence score. I found recordings of the Eurasian Coot on line but they did not sound the same as my recording at all.

I installed Warblr before, but found it has no ability to accept a previously recorded sound file, so I would have to keep trying to catch the sound again when I already have a pretty good recording. Is there any way to get Warblr to accept a prerecorded file? I couldn't see one in the app.
 
Have a listen to the second Carrion Crow call in this clip (starting at 48 seconds into the clip):

Not identical, but CC (and my local Hooded Crows) have some weird and wonderful calls, which can be very specific to an individual. A crow sp. would be my best guess too.
 
Thanks @dandy @Andy Strachan that's certainly the closest match I've heard so far. But it seems that's not the Carrion Crow's "normal" call. I searched for other recordings and they all sound like typical "crow" calls. Perhaps this is some special call the Carrion Crow makes, to communicate something in particular. I'm used to the various calls my chickens make to indicate finding food or spotting a ground predator Vs aerial predator. Perhaps this call means something specific to the crow?
Id love to know what it means. I dont know anything about this, but based on my own observations crow calls reflect their wants/needs/feelings and different ones for warnings, territorial calls etc. The call I posted is one that ive witnessed a few times. It's certainly seems to be one that crows use and as @pianoman said a lot of Crow calls can sound different and specific to that individual, even the usual CAWCAWCAW sounds different from Crow to Crow.
 
Yep, crows seem to have a "call" which is the familiar "caw caw" type croaking. But they also have a kind of "song", usually given from a perch, which consists of some strange muttering, squeaks and also variations on "motor horn" sounds a bit like the one you posted. BTW was it just a three-note only sound, or was there more that has been cut off by the recording?
 
As they say, you live and learn. In 40 years I have never heard a carrion crow make that noise but now I am definitely going to pay them more attention.
 
Have a listen to the second Carrion Crow call in this clip (starting at 48 seconds into the clip):

Not identical, but CC (and my local Hooded Crows) have some weird and wonderful calls, which can be very specific to an individual. A crow sp. would be my best guess too.
Thanks @pianoman . None of those sound are very close to my recording, but, as you say, various crow species can make calls unique to each individual, perhaps imitating other animals, birds or man-made sounds they hear, it could be that. There are certainly plenty of crows, rooks, jackdaws around here. The only way to settle this may be to actually see the bird while it's making the call.
 
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