How To Identify Strange Wildlife Noises

[sunflower-n-ks]

This seems to be the year for strange wildlife noises. I know most of the different noises that cattle make, they make more noises than "moo", and have heard so many different coyote calls. Most of the night bird sounds are also familiar now, but there are some that I hear that are totally unfamiliar. Even if I could figure out if it is a bird or an animal would be nice sometimes.

This morning, just as dawn was breaking, I was out and from down the road there was something I have never heard before. Loud, repeating, with a resonance. There was almost a human quality to it, but way too loud at that distance for a human and different also. The dogs and cats were ignoring it, even the dog that lives at the house it was close to was quiet. I "think" it was a bird because of the sharpness of the sound and the repeats. But it must have been a big one!

Some of the sounds are more like animals, but ones I have never heard before. This is prairie, pasture, crop land with very few houses. Most of the livestock around is cattle. Trees are mostly along creeks and rivers. It is said that there are some large cats in the area as well and the coyotes, foxes and the usual small varmints. Small birds, doves, hawks, owls, vultures, buzzards, and a few eagles are some of the birds.

So, is there a way to know if the "new" sound is being made by an animal or bird, the size of the maker, etc?

[seagullplayer]

Try a few here:

http://waterandwoods.net/2008/09/wil...l-sound-bytes/

Just search Google for animal sounds...

[OkieDavid]

Sometimes you just have to put on your boots and go exploring.... At least then you may be able to determine animal, bird, insect. My first thought when you described it was a Prairie Chicken lek but I wouldn't describe them as loud, they do tend to carry a great distance and there is a sort of resonance with them.

[fffarmergirl]

Ravens are loud and resonant - and often sound human. Keep your eyes open for them. You can tell the difference between a raven and a crow by the sounds they make, the ravens are bigger and have a ruff of feathers on their necks which they can fluff out or keep smooth, and when they fly the tips of thier wings look like fingers and their tails are wedge-shaped while flying.

[oregon woodsmok]

And then, just to make it more fun, the local Camp Robber Jays can imitate the sounds of other animals.

I've got one that can sound exactly like my dogs barking. I can't tell you have many times I've raced around counting noses, because I heard one of my dogs barking outside my fence.

A friend of mine has a Jay that makes rattlesnake noises. She's always jumping back with her heart in her throat before she realizes it's the darn bird.

[Usingmyrights]

When I was first looking at the house I ended up buying I heard a sound from next door that sounded like the veloraptors from the movie Jurrassic Park. I hard to see what was making the noise and it turned out to be sand hill cranes. I enjoyed them for several months (other than when they started up first thing in the morning), but sadly, haven't seen them lately.

[big rockpile]

Need to get with this Guy he is a very close personal friend of mine for years.

http://www.ralphduren.com/

big rockpile

[Oldcountryboy]

How about this one?

"I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee"!

Can anyone tell me what bird sings this song?

[sunflower-n-ks]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

How about this one?

"I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee"!

Can anyone tell me what bird sings this song?

I haven't heard those words from the bird world, but I swear the morning doves set on the power lines above my yard and chant "It's a zoo" "It's a zoo"

[where I want to]

And around here, jay (we have Stellar Jays) learn to sound like other birds. They can sound very much like a raptor. I think they use it to move other birds around.

It very interesting to listen to the pre-dawn sounds,

[Cabin Fever]

Living in the middle of a forest with no neighbors within 3/8 mile, we hear lots of animal and bird sounds at dusk and at dawn. This morning was another first for us! Wild turkeys!

[Old John]

We hear the coyotes all the time. Occasionally we hear a fox bark, a lot of Great horned owls and wild turkeys. I have heard a rabbit cry, when something caught it. It sounded almost like baby, but so pitiful. You hear a lot of things, sitting out on our deck, late at night.
I guess the one that surprised me most the first couple times I heard it was the shriek that deer make, when they are startled. It really did surprise me. I did not know they make a noise.

[Ray]

There are so many different insects, nocturnal, seasonal, latitudinal, longitudinal, and animals that get around but aren't there continuously, that many can be impossible to know without looking them up. There are many sound identification sights on line. Some are just animal and insect, names and sounds that you can go and listen too ti identify what you've been hearing, good luck it can be a challenge at times. ray

[Oldcountryboy]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

How about this one?

"I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee", "I see your peter Lee"!

Can anyone tell me what bird sings this song?

Anyone familiar with Meadowlarks?


Last night I heard a Whiperwill down on the creek by my house. I was glad to hear it as it's a familiar sound that has almost disappeared around my neck of the woods. And a couple of days ago I saw two watermocasins on the creek also. Even the snakes have almost disappeared on the creek. Everybody that buys land with a creek on it decides that all the trees need to be cut down next to the bank. This destroys the aquatic ecosystem that's been here for millions of years. Hopefully I'll get to hear bullfrogs bellering at night once again.

Please, don't clear cut your creek banks, the aquatic wildlife needs them.

[CarolynRenee]

Look up the call of a Red Fox....has GOT to be the weirdest sound in the world.

[sunflower-n-ks]

Originally Posted by CarolynRenee

Look up the call of a Red Fox....has GOT to be the weirdest sound in the world.

I listened to the various red fox sounds from the link above. I think it probably was a fox I heard that morning. It was so loud and clear in that still morning air. It was the first morning in days that the wind was not blowing hard and just the quiet of no wind was strange. I know there are red fox around here. Saw one by my house during the day once. Seemed to think it might have goose for dinner until I yelled at it.

[fishhead]

Last week I was hiking the trails in Hocking Hills Ohio. When I came to the Cliff House I heard loud growling coming from the cavity. It sounded strange and for a while I thought it was kids inside trying to sound scary. Then the more I listened the more real it sounded but I still couldn't tell what kind of animal was making the growl. I thought it might be a mother coon or something.

When I went in to see if I could spot it there stood a pigeon.

[salmonslayer]

Most of you will probably laugh but the Mrs and I have never been around the 13 year/17 year Cicadas before this year and a couple weeks ago we started hearing this sound that was like screams coming from the woods. Then yesterday we had Cicadas all over the place and when we went to brush some off of one of our shrubs they all flew away and were screaming at us. I of course kept my manly composure while the Mrs screamed like a girl (yea right) but it literally scared the bees wax out of us. We think they are kind of cool now (and we have covered all the fruit trees with netting) but the sound is unlike anything we have ever heard from a bug. But the loud low sound described by the OP sounds like what we have discovered is bull frogs coming from our farm pond. It sounds almost human and is very loud but at a low tone.