One note call ID/ Florida (1 Viewer)

[mick53]

Hi,

New birder here, so please forgive any clumsiness.

I'm trying to ID a bird that I haven't seen yet. I hear it every day at different times.

The call, or song, is distinctive in that it is just one long note lasting 2-3 seconds. It doesn't really vary in pitch but sometimes it does seem to drop to just a bit lower pitch as it tails off.

The bird repeats this the call two or three times. It is very easy to duplicate and the bird does return the call.

I'm just a backyard birder. If it might help identify the mystery bird, the birds I have coming to the yard are, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Brown Thrashers, Tufted Titmouse (Titmice?), Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Mockingbirds and Mourning Doves.

Last year we had a nesting pair of Screech Owls. I hope they come back.

Anyway, I have listened on the Internet to the calls and the songs of the birds listed above and none of them seem to be the mystery bird. I don't think he or she has ever come to the birdbath or come to eat any seed. If it has, I missed it.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Parula6]

Would you say it's a clear/whistle note or does it have a burry/trilled quality? Is the pattern one of several long-held notes given close together, or one long note/long pause/one long note?

One thought... Florida towhees often have songs that vary from the archetypal "drink your tea". I've heard ones that dropped the "drink your" part of the typical song and just gone with one long "teeeeeeeeeaaaaa". Once in Pinellas Co I heard a male that gave a dead-on rendition of the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth -- "dit dit dit duuuuuuum".

I've heard tufted titmice that do a one-syllable song rather than the textbook "peter peter peter" -- more like "dear dear dear". The individual notes weren't 2-3 seconds long, though, the whole sequence was less than 2 secs.

In listening to songs in hopes of an ID, I find it helps to tune in to the quality of the specie's voice rather than focus on song pattern. There's a ton of regional as well as individual variation in birdsong, and if you listen for a specific "typical" pattern you can easily come up empty.

 

[Jim M.]

Eurasian Starling can make a call that seems to fit the description. Check if you see any around the next time you hear it.

Best,
Jim

 

[mick53]

Would you say it's a clear/whistle note or does it have a burry/trilled quality? Is the pattern one of several long-held notes given close together, or one long note/long pause/one long note?

Kind of you to reply. Thanks.

It is one long note/ stop. Other times it is one long note/pause/ one long note. I don't believe I have heard three successive calls.

The bird answers a return call from me almost invariably.

The quality is very similar to a two second, clear, one note whistle of a human. There is no trilling, or warbling. It is just a clear, steady sound which on occasion goes just a bit lower at the end. It doesn't stop "short," rather it just kind of tails off... .

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[Daddylion]

Kind of like a whistle, you say? Could it be a Tufted Titmouse? Mine often sing one steady whistling note.

 

[David Norgate]

Northern Cardinal?

 

[Sandy63]

Kind of you to reply. Thanks.

It is one long note/ stop. Other times it is one long note/pause/ one long note. I don't believe I have heard three successive calls.

The bird answers a return call from me almost invariably.

The quality is very similar to a two second, clear, one note whistle of a human. There is no trilling, or warbling. It is just a clear, steady sound which on occasion goes just a bit lower at the end. It doesn't stop "short," rather it just kind of tails off... .

Thanks again,

Mike

Sir,
Did you ever receive an identification? I am in Florida and have heard this same bird for the last three days. My bird id app, “Merlin”, doesn’t even recognize it. I have searched and searched with no answer.

Thanks
Sandy