Haunting calls

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birdie
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Haunting calls

HI I'm new to this but I am being driven wild with curiosity after moving into a kind of rainforest/ treed area in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast. I cannot offer a picture of the bird in question and can only describe it's haunting 5 note call. It repeats its call slowly time & again in the mornings. One high note then one lower note, then two even higher quick notes and ending with a long slow bottom note. I know this is a long shot as I can't provide a photo. It is an exquisitely beautiful sound and is often repeated back from afar , presumably by a mate. Sometimes it stops the call after the first two notes but not often. Any ideas?

cupladaze
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a guess: pied butcherbird

birdie
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Hello Thanks for the prompt responses, though I must confess that I thought it would be something far more noble!!
I have listened to a few recordings and it could be the pied butcher bird. The tone is the same though the melody is different and much clearer on my bird. I am having trouble finding a site with a good recording . The lamington site is beautfiful thank you.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
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Well I have been to all those sites, and parts of the biby recording sound like this bird however it is much higher in pitch and more jumbled up. The bird I hear has only 4 separate notes ( 1 repeated) and never varies this call. it doesn't warble at all, just a clear pipe like sound. I'll have to try to record it in the mornings. cheers
birdie in Buderim

Sunshine Coast Queensland

cupladaze
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I live in N Qld so there will be differences in the pied butcherbird calls that we both hear. The biby call is only remotely similar to the calls i have heard here. Last summer i was awakened by a mysterious and loud piping bird call on regular occasions before dawn. All or bits of the call were repeated until after dawn. This happened for months until i decided to investigate, getting up and walking the streets until i found the bird, high in a tree and clearly visible - well it would have been if there was enough light to see properly. The bird was a pied butcherbird though.

Strangely enough, the pied butcherbird call i hear more recently is quite different and it's possibly the same bird. So expect variation.

The thing about the call of the pied butcherbird is it's clarity and the pureness of the notes. The way you descibed the call; haunting, repeated slowly in the morning, exquisite, and repeated from afar, made me think immediately of my experience with the mysterious early-morning calls.

Still, it's only a guess, and you might have to undergo an early morning investigation yourself.

John

birdie
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I agree John from the description it sounds like you bird. I will have to get up and wander around. We are at the very bottom of a deep valley on the edge of Buderim where the trees are tall and go on forever with winding lanes cutting through. But very close to here is Foote Sanctuary which is known to attract over 200 different species. Perhaps that will be the best place for an early morning jaunt. I don't have any binoculars, does anyone know what would be the most suitable focal length for bird watching around your neighbourhood? I discovered the owner of a very interesting whooping call yesterday in the form of a pheasant coucal. At first we thought we had monkeys in the bush!! Thanks for the input . I'll keep you posted.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
birdie's picture

I agree John from the description it sounds like you bird. I will have to get up and wander around. We are at the very bottom of a deep valley on the edge of Buderim where the trees are tall and go on forever with winding lanes cutting through. But very close to here is Foote Sanctuary which is known to attract over 200 different species. Perhaps that will be the best place for an early morning jaunt. I don't have any binoculars, does anyone know what would be the most suitable focal length for bird watching around your neighbourhood? I discovered the owner of a very interesting whooping call yesterday in the form of a pheasant coucal. At first we thought we had monkeys in the bush!! Thanks for the input . I'll keep you posted.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
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Actually I did ijust hear that exact call from BiBY so there is definitely a pied butcher bird in the vicinity. Maybe he calls differently in the a.m.? It's dusk now.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
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I've been wanderin around the neighbourhood since 6.30am with not a peep out ofhim. Wouldn't you knkow it though, as I sat with my coffee by the pool he perched in the neighbour's gum tree and sang his little heart out answering one further up the valley. Yes I even saw him . It looks like a pied butcher bird. Thanks for your help, I did record his call and if I can work out how to post it I'll do so , it really is the most beautiful sound.
Thanks again
Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

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