Some time ago I was walking in national park in the Northern Rivers of NSW. I heard a bird call that I can't really describe except to say that it was really uncanny and rather frightening. Couldn't see the culprit but it was a really horrible sound. Any idea what it could have been?
Hi angiewb, although I don't live, nor have I been to that National Park,but, was it in the morning, during the day, or at night? Could narrow the search down a bit?
M-L
hi araminta
it was in the early afternoon. the wierdest bird call i've ever heard. really repellent.
Hi angiewb,
I love solving these kind of mysteries, but a bit more info would definitely help.
Can you try describing it? Repellent how? A screech? A raucous squawk? Something else?
Cheers
Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Hi Tim
Well, it was a while back, long before I knew about this site and the forum, but from memory it was a kind of song-line - a series of noises - rather than a discrete sound. It really creeped me out! It had a distinctly menacing, weird quality about it and even my partner was unnerved by it, I guess because it was within the vocal range of a human. By that I mean that it wasn't highpitched like a hawk or deep and booming like some of the doves.
I later mentioned it to a local who said that it was fairly rare but known in the area (not too far from Bangalow) but he didn't know the name of it.
Glad you like puzzles, because this is a beauty!
Cheers
Angie
Hi Angie,
I'm no expert on birds in that area, but two thoughts come to mind - lyrebirds and barking owls.
If it was daytime, lyrebirds would probably be found in rainforest-y national parks in that area. They have an amazing range of sounds and can mimic most things they are exposed to.
If night-time Barking Owls have both a weird kind of yap-yap barking sound and a blood-curdling scream that sounds halfway between a human scream and a cat's yowl - very unnerving at 3am I can tell you.
.
But yours may well be neither of those :)
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Hi Tim
Having listened to the barking owl clip on the site, I'm sure that wasn't it. We have lyrebirds up here in the Mountains and in my experience they tend to run through their repertoire of different sounds, imitating other birds and even cameras (which always makes me laugh).
I can't imagine a lyrebird confining itself to the particular long song of the bird in question. There was no variation such as you would expect with a lyrebird.
I've been through many of the more obvious songs on the site but also realise that they are not comprehensive owing to the fact that songs vary from region to region (the Bangalow magpie for example) and from season to season. The variety of sounds made by satin bowerbirds is amazing.
Ah well, 2 down and 313 to go!
Cheers
Angie
A lot more than 313 unfortunately - the site doesn't have all Aussie birds, just a sample of the more common ones.
I'm not sure of the exact number of recorded Aussie birds, but I'd guess at around 2-3000. :)
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Hi Tim
Just my luck. Ah well, I may just have to consign this to the One-of-life's-great-mysteries basket. A fascinating puzzle, however.
Cheers
Angie
Angie, possible not quite the right habitat - but the curlew makes a very unnerving call.
hi edward
there aren't any sound samples on this site but from the descriptions it doesn't sound like my mystery bird is a curlew. the song was very complex, not a single or double sound.
cheers
angie
hi there within the area you often get the Green Catbird which hence its name can sound like a cat... being squashed!!
its a pretty horrible sound as you said so check it out.