Help with strange bird call (or other animal?) U.S. (1 Viewer)

[tnagibs]

Hello from SE MN!

I have a strange bird call that we hear every now and then. It is not from the same part of our property, nor is it the same time of day, so it is not some mechanical sound we are hearing. The call sounds like a toy train whistle! It's always just a (toot-toot) and not repeated. I cannot tell if after that this same bird (or whatever animal this is) has a different call as there are a lot of birds being noisy. It's near impossible to record because of this.
It seriously sounds like a toy train whistle. I've googled, I've listened to many owl recordings but I cannot figure out what is making this sound.

ETA: We are on 6 acres with acres of fields separating us from any neighbors so it isn't coming from someone else's property.

Any ideas?

 

[thunderjen]

I heard the same thing at my house in Oakdale, MN! Came across your question when searching "bird that sounds like a train" in Google. Happy to say I actually saw the bird that was doing this the other day and created an account here just to reply to you. It's a red winged blackbird. We are either hearing the exact same bird, or there are two of them out there that sounds nothing like the rest of their species, according to recordings I've listened to.

 

[tnagibs]

Oh wow! I am near Faribault so it can't be the same bird but I will look for a red winged back bird! My husband heard it really close to him this week while outside but couldn't see it. We do get tons of blackbirds on our property. So glad someone else has heard the same thing and happy you actually saw the bird! I will let you know if I see the little guy hanging around

 

[cwhitehead]

bird sounds like a train whistle

I haven't been able to spot it, because the tree he's in is very close to my house and very thick with leaves, but I've been hearing this bird call early every morning. I live in North Ogden, Utah, USA. I've never heard the sound before, even though I've seen red winged black birds around other areas in Utah. Could this bird have evolved a new call by being exposed to actual train whistles? There is a comuter train that passes about two miles away from here.

 

[tom baxter]

burrowing owl seems was first thing that comes to mind.

edit: just saw that you have identified it. Have a listen to burrowing owl if youre interested. They are a breeding bird in MN, maybe it learned the song from one, though I have not had personal experience with Red-winged Blackbirds mimicking, nor have I ever heard one make any extremely unusual sounds such as this.

 

[Margaux]

Bird Sounding Like Toy Train Whistle

It is a pheasant! I was bewildered too - we'd moved to a different province and every morning I thought a neighbour was messing with us by blowing a toy train whistle until I saw (and heard) with my own eyes it was a pheasant. Since then I've heard that reedy "fooh fooh" often - and each time looking out my window sure enough, there was a pheasant strutting around the property. They're gorgeous!

 

[laircy]

I heard a similar sound the other day, and it was a red winged blackbird. It’s strange, because usually they make different noises.

 

[Werzik]

Ring-necked pheasant is my guest; https://www.xeno-canto.org/364387.

 

[juliagoesoutside]

Sorry to revisit a very old thread, but I just wanted to say that I have felt like I was going crazy the last week experiencing what sounded to me just like someone sounding 2 notes on a train whistle each morning while getting ready for work. It was absolutely 100% a ring-necked pheasant which makes perfect sense given that we've seen what seems to be a mated pair hanging around our house often. Thank you all for solving this mystery for me!

 

[pianoman]

Sorry to revisit a very old thread, but I just wanted to say that I have felt like I was going crazy the last week experiencing what sounded to me just like someone sounding 2 notes on a train whistle each morning while getting ready for work. It was absolutely 100% a ring-necked pheasant which makes perfect sense given that we've seen what seems to be a mated pair hanging around our house often. Thank you all for solving this mystery for me!

Good that an old thread can still be searched and find answers for someone new.

Shows that sound descriptions are difficult - I was imagining something more musical and tonal when the OP described the toy train whistle

 

[Dovetail11]

I heard the same thing at my house in Oakdale, MN! Came across your question when searching "bird that sounds like a train" in Google. Happy to say I actually saw the bird that was doing this the other day and created an account here just to reply to you. It's a red winged blackbird. We are either hearing the exact same bird, or there are two of them out there that sounds nothing like the rest of their species, according to recordings I've listened to.

 

[Dovetail11]

I also live in mn and have hearing that strange call also. We fo have lots of redw>need blackbirds so makes sense. 🙂

 

[jedearmon]

Good that an old thread can still be searched and find answers for someone new.

Shows that sound descriptions are difficult - I was imagining something more musical and tonal when the OP described the toy train whistle

I'm near Nashville, TN and am listening to the same bird sound as I type...toot, toot, like a toy train whistle. It's a precious sound. I've not tried searching audio of the pheasant or blackbirds online yet, just grateful he's here to entertain and grateful to you all for sharing. 😊

 

[pianoman]

I'm near Nashville, TN and am listening to the same bird sound as I type...toot, toot, like a toy train whistle. It's a precious sound. I've not tried searching audio of the pheasant or blackbirds online yet, just grateful he's here to entertain and grateful to you all for sharing. 😊

I think it's more of a klaxon sound from a vintage car, rather than a train whistle perhaps

 

[juliagoesoutside]

I think it's more of a klaxon sound from a vintage car, rather than a train whistle perhaps

It's funny because my husband would say the same - he hears a much more raspy sound similar to a crow, whereas I can only hear a very distinctive wooden train whistle like the one in this video. If I try really hard I can hear the klaxon horn or the raspier sound, but the way I hear it naturally is just an exact copy of the wooden whistle. It reminds me of the Laurel/Yanny sound illusion that was viral a few years back!

 

[Heljen]

I live in Florida and I am hearing a bird that sounds like a wooden train whistle. My experience is the same as everyone else that has heard this bird. I have been trying to get a recording but it does sound like the wooden train whistle posted by pianoman. I do not have pheasants. It is elusive, as soon as I hear the sound and run outside, to record the sound, it stops.

 

[Axk]

Hello everyone,
Got this regular high-pitched pulsed (about 5Hz) quiet sound at night in the autumn near my apartment block.
So regular it's probably something artificial, I thought it was a bat but comparing it to other bat recordings doesn't match, with bats it's not so regular.
Any idea what it might be?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12YTJkOSGPVCkPBY8YRWVZdjTO3dPnXI7/view

(You have to maximize the volume to hear it)