hummiefankid
Member
Can anyone identify the bird peeping in the attached recording? I've heard it from September to April in my backyard (Fairfield County, Connecticut, Northeastern US), high up in the treetops (mostly oaks, maples and tulip trees).
It peeps for hours at a time, usually after dark (although I've heard it occasionally during the day, too), and as late as 4:00AM. It's loud enough that I can hear it when I'm inside with the windows shut. There's usually just one individual, occasionally two, never more than that.
Although it sounds very much like a Spring Peeper, I'm sure it isn't one. I'm very familiar with the Spring Peepers around here, and, for one thing, they always peep in or around ponds and small lakes with brushy areas along the water's edge. I've got no water on my property, not even a brook (okay a couple of birdbaths, but that's it). I've also only heard Spring Peepers down low, near the ground, not up in trees. They generally peep in large choruses, not as lone individuals. (Occasionally, on a chilly night, I'll hear one extra-hardy frog peeping alone, but usually that only lasts a couple of hours in the evening, not half the night.) And Spring Peepers quit their peeping by midnight or 1:00AM, while my treetop peeper keeps going until close to dawn. As their name suggests, they peep only in the spring, generally from late March to late May around here. (At least in their large choruses. Admittedly, there's nothing to stop an individual from peeping in the fall. But I believe they go underground for the winter.)
Also, another BirdForum member named dhavlena posted an inquiry about the identical peeping sound, heard under the same circumstances, and he said that he actually saw a bird hopping from tree to tree and peeping from each new treetop, although he didn't get a good look at the bird.
I think the sound is a little different than a Spring Peeper's peep, too. The treetop peeper's call is a little more drawn-out and plaintive. It's flatter in pitch, too, with no little upward fillip at the end.
From searching around online, I think the best bet for an ID I've seen so far is the Swainson's Thrush, which makes a *somewhat* similar call while flying overhead at night during its migrations. Several people I've seen online have described the Swainson's as "sounding like a Spring Peeper." But I've listened to several Swainson's Thrush flight-call recordings, and I think it's a bit different: softer, breathier, thinner and sometimes more of a "wep" than a "peep." And Swainson's Thrushes reportedly migrate in huge flocks, so that you can hear hundreds of them peeping overhead all night long. What I've heard is a single bird that stays in one general area, at most hopping from tree to tree. Perhaps what I've heard is a louder variation of the flight call, when the thrush is resting in a treetop before continuing the migration?
(I've also heard my treetop peeper in January and February, but perhaps some Swainson's Thrushes stick around all winter, the way our Eastern Bluebirds do?)
I've attached dhavlena's sound file, because he got a better recording than I did (mine are a little faint). Thanks -- it's really driving me crazy that I can't ID this mystery bird!
It peeps for hours at a time, usually after dark (although I've heard it occasionally during the day, too), and as late as 4:00AM. It's loud enough that I can hear it when I'm inside with the windows shut. There's usually just one individual, occasionally two, never more than that.
Although it sounds very much like a Spring Peeper, I'm sure it isn't one. I'm very familiar with the Spring Peepers around here, and, for one thing, they always peep in or around ponds and small lakes with brushy areas along the water's edge. I've got no water on my property, not even a brook (okay a couple of birdbaths, but that's it). I've also only heard Spring Peepers down low, near the ground, not up in trees. They generally peep in large choruses, not as lone individuals. (Occasionally, on a chilly night, I'll hear one extra-hardy frog peeping alone, but usually that only lasts a couple of hours in the evening, not half the night.) And Spring Peepers quit their peeping by midnight or 1:00AM, while my treetop peeper keeps going until close to dawn. As their name suggests, they peep only in the spring, generally from late March to late May around here. (At least in their large choruses. Admittedly, there's nothing to stop an individual from peeping in the fall. But I believe they go underground for the winter.)
Also, another BirdForum member named dhavlena posted an inquiry about the identical peeping sound, heard under the same circumstances, and he said that he actually saw a bird hopping from tree to tree and peeping from each new treetop, although he didn't get a good look at the bird.
I think the sound is a little different than a Spring Peeper's peep, too. The treetop peeper's call is a little more drawn-out and plaintive. It's flatter in pitch, too, with no little upward fillip at the end.
From searching around online, I think the best bet for an ID I've seen so far is the Swainson's Thrush, which makes a *somewhat* similar call while flying overhead at night during its migrations. Several people I've seen online have described the Swainson's as "sounding like a Spring Peeper." But I've listened to several Swainson's Thrush flight-call recordings, and I think it's a bit different: softer, breathier, thinner and sometimes more of a "wep" than a "peep." And Swainson's Thrushes reportedly migrate in huge flocks, so that you can hear hundreds of them peeping overhead all night long. What I've heard is a single bird that stays in one general area, at most hopping from tree to tree. Perhaps what I've heard is a louder variation of the flight call, when the thrush is resting in a treetop before continuing the migration?
(I've also heard my treetop peeper in January and February, but perhaps some Swainson's Thrushes stick around all winter, the way our Eastern Bluebirds do?)
I've attached dhavlena's sound file, because he got a better recording than I did (mine are a little faint). Thanks -- it's really driving me crazy that I can't ID this mystery bird!
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