Hi,
I'm looking for some help in identifying a bird call ( https://instaud.io/1aqS ) that has been driving the wife and I nuts for the last 3 weeks. It's so annoying, that it has driven us to have to go and sleep in the spare bedroom in order to prevent it from waking us up at around 3:50am every day for the last 3 weeks. We live in Coogee, NSW and this bird has been making this annoying repetative call in the dead of night now since late July.
Could someone please listen to this recording I made of it? I would love to know what species it is: Unknown Annoying Bird Call
Many thanks,
Tom
It sounds like one of the more unusual Pied Currawong calls - they do have a tendency to be up later and earlier than other birds too
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
There are definitely a lot of Currawongs around here, so I guess it could be one. Given the time of year, could it be a mating call? Would these birds try and find partners in the pitch dark with several hours to go before dawn?
If you turn the volume up and listen closely from around the 52 second mark you can hear another bird making the same call off in the distance and then the one close to our house kind of joins in on the end of the other birds call.
@HelloBirdy I can now confirm that your Pied Currawong guess is entirely accurate. I had to get up before dawn the other day to get to the airport and the bird was making the calls as I was walking out the front of our block of flats. I looked up and there it was just sitting on the overhead powerlines and I could clearly see it was a Currawong.
I would really love to know why these Currawongs feel the need to sit there and make these unusual calls many hours before dawn? Could it be spring mating behaviour? My wife is at here wits end... she wants it dead!
A disturbed sleep can certainly be very aggravating! Have you tried ear plugs?
If this bird species is calling before dawn all year around then its very early calls are unlikely to be related to breeding but if, as you say, it's been happening since July them it may well be breeding related.
Birds call early in the day to define their territories & to establish contact with their fellow species members. Currawongs tend to be rather dominant birds & so are probably getting in early for the worms, so to speak.
Could I suggest that if your wife learned more about birds & their behavior she might come to appreciate them & thereby feel more at ease with them. This could enable her to sleep more easily.
For many Australians getting rid of our native birds, for whatever reason, is almost a way of life. Unfortunately, these Australians are unaware that our native birds are part of a healthy ecology & a healthy ecology is the foundation of a healthy economy.