Funny sounding Chiffchaff (4 Viewers)

[kittykat23uk]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering whether someone could help with a chiffchaff I videoed today at Hellesdon Mill, its song sounded a bit odd to me. Started out as a regular chiffchaff but interspersed it had another phrase, a sort of "deeyou" "deeyou" sound. I expect it is just a normal chiffchaff but it would be good to be sure. The video is too large a file to upload but I could email it if people are interested. Just PM me for details.

Thanks,

Jo

 

[nickderry]

The contact call of a chiffchaff is a whistle hoo-eet/ hweet, could this be the call you heard?

 

[kittykat23uk]

I considered that as a possibility but it seemed to be part of the song itself rather than a distinct call, the phrase was repeated regularly within the usual chiffchaff song. It just sounded unusual compared to other chiffchaffs I've heard (they are very common here in the summer).

 

[mike nesbitt]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering whether someone could help with a chiffchaff I videoed today at Hellesdon Mill, its song sounded a bit odd to me. Started out as a regular chiffchaff but interspersed it had another phrase, a sort of "deeyou" "deeyou" sound. I expect it is just a normal chiffchaff but it would be good to be sure. The video is too large a file to upload but I could email it if people are interested. Just PM me for details.

Thanks,

Jo

Hi
The song of the Chiffchaff is often interspersed with a guttural intermezzo, a kind of prrr...prrr sound. It wasn't this you heard was it?
Cheers

 

[Th_SQ]

"deeyou" "deeyou"

Not sure of how it sounds with an English tongue but young Chiffchaffs often give sounds somewhat reminiscent of call of Greenish Warbler, perhaps it is this call.

 

[kittykat23uk]

Never heard a greenish warbler so don't know. As I say I have recorded a video clip of the bird so if anyone could help to confirm that it is just a regular chiffchaff then I could email it to them.

 

[KnockerNorton]

I know exactly what you mean, as I heard the same thing today from a bird in Beds. Never heard a chiffchaff give that note before. My bird was singing something like this:

chiff chaff chiff chaff dudoo dudoo dudoo chaff chiff chiff etc

The dudoo notes were almost Great Tit like in quality, having a bit of a ring. It was not the little grunt that they give (prr prr) - this bird was giving that too. It was a song note, or rather a double-note.

Very odd. I thought for a second that it was 2 birds singing at the same time, with two birds giving one note a split seocnd apart, but it was definately just the one bird giving double notes. No hint of Willow Warbler in it, by the way!

 

[kittykat23uk]

Yes thats it! Sounds like you have seen the same as me. I'm wondering if it might be a siberian chiffchaff, or one displaying siberian qualities? According to Lars Jonsson "Race Tristis has a distinct tee-U with accentuated but lower final vowel than European chiffchaffs." What I really need is for someone more qualified to take a look at my movie clip. I got a reasonable recording of the song and the bird.

 

[pipixcan]

This sounds like a mixed Willow/Chiff song (see the Willow/Chiff hybrid thread in this forum).

 

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks to my OH have managed to get a small segment that I can hopefully post.

 

[KnockerNorton]

Yes thats it! Sounds like you have seen the same as me. I'm wondering if it might be a siberian chiffchaff, or one displaying siberian qualities? According to Lars Jonsson "Race Tristis has a distinct tee-U with accentuated but lower final vowel than European chiffchaffs." What I really need is for someone more qualified to take a look at my movie clip. I got a reasonable recording of the song and the bird.

No, that's referring to the contact call, nothing to do with the song.

Pipixcan - it's almost certainly not anything to do with a mixed willow/chiff song either. It's a double note among the chiffs and chaffs, sounding nothing like any part of a willow song.

can't open your mpeg, kittycat, but from your description and mine I'm fairly sure we're talking about the same thing. I suspect it's juts aberrant chiffchaffs, rather than any hybrid or rarity.

 

[kittykat23uk]

Oh can anyone else open the attached song?

 

[Colin]

Hi,
Yes, managed to open the video file. That sound is not the contact call as far as a I can make out. The contact call is more mononsyllabic than that of the Willow Warbler and this call is completely different. In fact, based upon the short burst on this clip and the bird seen dark against the sky which makes visual id difficult, I would have doubted that it is a Chiffchaff at all. Can it be another species mimicking other birds?

 

[KnockerNorton]

Oh can anyone else open the attached song?

Opened it now - yes, that's exactly what my bird was doing, although mine had more 'normal' chiffs and chaffs too.

Listening to yours, it almost sounds like an echo.

It's definately a chiffchaff though.

 

[kittykat23uk]

Well, I had no doubt that it was a chiffchaff, it looks quite dark against the sky but thats just the video. We had to reduce the length and visual quality of the video, it starts off with a lot more normal chiffchaff song then goes to this strangeness. Any ideas people? Is it just a normal chiffchaff??

 

[Steven Astley]

I can't open it :C . Shame it sounds interesting, might have heard something similar myself.

 

[JCL]

I can't open it either. But, seeing you're based in Norwich... there was an Iberian Chiffchaff at Colney for several weeks during the spring. there's a thread on it, with recordings - might be worth checking out.

 

[kittykat23uk]

I did, I went to look for it, couldn't find it but having listened to the recordings, mine is nothing like the iberian.

Try this link?

http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l260/kittykat23uk/?action=view&current=CHIFFCHAFF1.flv

 

[KnockerNorton]

I could only open it if I saved it to file and then opened it through RealPlayer. Clicking on the link to open it gives an error.

 

[tarzzz]

I have never heard a Chiff Chaff sound like in the videofile above.

//Ben