I just had the most amazing experience with one of my catbirds. They are very active at the moment and I heard one calling very loudly close by so I snuck out with the recorder to see if I could catch him. I kept hearing a howl and then a clunking noise and on further investigation I found he/she (not sure who does the howling out of the two) was deeply enamoured with its own reflection in the neighbours' window. They are usually so shy and reserved around here that it was a real surprise for me to see them so close to a house.
As I tried to take a picture it finally got wind of me and flew off into their normal spot in the trees.
Spring is definitely in the air with the birds around here. I would love to find their nest but am too scared that I might scare them off.
Cheers
Birdie
Hi Birdie,
Spring is in the air down in Brissie too.
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I woke up smiling at 5.30am, as one of the local male pied butcherbirds decided to start his pre dawn mating song today. It's so clear and beautiful, in the silence of the morning before the other birds have started.
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I wasn't smiling so much last year when it was right outside my window though...
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Cheers
Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
How do you k now it is a mating call Timmo? Mine seem to call all year round here..... maybe it's mating time every day for a butcher bird !!! I know how you feel though waking up to those mellow sounds... it is awesome. In Summer I feel like I sleep in an aviary....
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I'm not sure where I read it, but I posted a sound file link on here asking for an ID about this time last year, because it was really loud and clear just outside our house.
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Someone identified it as a pied butcherbird from the tone, and I read up on the net somewhere about it. Apparently young males have a pre-dawn mating call which is distinct from the regular butcherbird calls. The ones I have noticed have been about half an hour before the normal bird chorus starts around dawn.
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I'll see if I can dig up the post.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Found the link I was reading anyway...
"The pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) is a medium-sized songbird with sharply contrasted black and white plumage and a black hood and bib. The species is non-migratory, and its territory includes much of mainland Australia, with a notable absence from the southern coast and desert areas (Higgins, Peter, and Cowling 2006: 516). Males and females are generally indistinguishable in appearance. The (assumed) male sings spring song in the pre-dawn hours and during moonlit nights. Both sexes participate in the dawn chorus, and their daytime vocalisations, often antiphonal duos or trios, can be heard off and on throughout the day."
http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans12/art13.htm
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Thanks for that Timmo. I once researched the same thing on the net and came across a guys thesis. He was a music student and he had done the whole thesis on whether there was language and music in the Pied Butcher Bird's call. I printed out pages of stuff, most of which I didn't understand at all. They haven't actually started pre-dawn here just yet, but they do as it nears to summer more. I have heard them on moonlit nights too. One of the catbirds was really giving it heaps this morning, but not with the howling, just with the high pitched clicking sound that they make to each other. Instead of just the odd one, it was continous for a while, which I haven't been aware of before. I can't find much information on them though.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie,
I think that thesis is exactly the info I'm referencing :)
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The catbirds behaviour sounds interesting - I didn't realise they did the clicking sounds as well. I haven't seen them often, just a couple of times around my parents place at Mt Mellum. I was chasing a noisy one around a thicket with my camera there the other day. The thicket was only about 5-10m across, but it managed to stay well hidden from me and I couldn't get a shot of it.
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Cheers
Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Oh yeah.... catbirds are in full swing now..... started at about 5am (pitch black at this time of year) Guess I can turn off my alarm clock now LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
yeah ... about that alarm clock.... it has turned into an orchestra now. 5 am this morning, catbirds ( still going), butcher birds ( first to start), whip birds, a very noisy dove/pigeon that I have yet to identify but is continual with a cuk-caw cuk-kaw sound (one ascending one descending) that never shuts up in the morning! Add to that are Lewins HE, Lorikeets, King Parrots, Currawong, Figbirds and the list goes on. Think I had better start getting some early nights as it was hot last night and the windows are open again :')
Oh and did I mention the geckos? They have arrived for he summer too.
It;s all good though, wouldn't live without them.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
You left out the frogs, at the moment they are going full pelt here due to living by a creek. Natural noises always seem more soothing that human- made ones. (Except maybe sulphur crested.)
Yeah well our frogs haven't started yet, and the cane toad has wiped out many of the native ones. But I did leave out the cricket/cicada chorus. That hasn't started for the summer yes... and when it does it is deafening!
I know what yo mean about natural sounds. I went into a patch of rainforest that has plenty of eastern yellow, rufous fantails, grey fantails, Lewins, etc etc. i was trying to record the bird calls, but it is close to a main road and the motorway and I just couldn't do it as hey would be too loud on the finished result. Around my home we are so lucky to have very few "industrial" noises till someone starts their lawnmower or something.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
If you guys are interested in hearing how noisy it can get in that corner of my garden I have posted a slideshow of the birds with recordings in the background to You tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4RyiE8CugY
I did try to match up the pictures to the sounds but it all got too hard. I will do it properly one day when I feel like torturing myself for a few hours LO
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Woohoo I think I may have a baby catbird nearby. Something is making a very loud and harsh rasping hissing sound just on twilight, and when I went out to investigate I couldn't spot it but it was in the catbird tree, and a catbird flew at the same time and started cheeping near me (to distract me I think) I am going to have to try to climb up the creek and have a look more closely. My neighbours are going to think I am on something of course :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland