Hello all,
My family and I recently spent several weeks in Tanzania, Africa. The birding was wonderful, and though I was able to ID just about every species we saw, there were two in particular that remained mysteries. Hopefully somebody here can shed a little light on what they might have been.
However, I should note that I didn't see or photograph these birds, I only heard their calls. Fortunately, I was able to record the call of one and replicate that of the other, and I'll try to be as thorough as possible in describing exactly where I heard them.
The first bird we heard was at a camp near the tip of Tarangire National Park, and the habitat was flat grassland, where whistling thorn acacias were the dominant tree species. It was late morning, and the bird seemed to be calling from one of the trees right next to our tent, and when the calls stopped, I noticed a spotted morning-thrush (Cichladusa guttata) hopping around on the ground near where the call had originated. This led me to believe that the thrush was the one that was singing, but the recordings of its call that I've heard online are very different than what I heard in Africa.
The bird's song was so distinctive that the other members of my family pestered me to find out what it was. To most of us, the rich, whistling notes seemed very similar to the opening notes of "The Blue Danube", in both speed and pitch (my dad actually started calling it the "Straussbird"). I was unfortunately unable to record it singing, but I've included a recording of myself imitating the song as best as I can remember it. The last four notes (it might have just been three, I don't recall) were also a bit shriller than they are in my imitation. (This is the first attachment.)
The bird species I was able to record was in a montane forest on the slopes of Ngorongoro Crater, near Gibbs Farm. Its call seemed to be coming from a small but dense row of trees surrounded by fields of coffee on either side. I wasn't able to get close enough to see it, but its call was a loud, carrying series of alternating high and low whistles that would continue for several seconds, then repeat again after a brief pause. (This was also in the late morning.) The second attachment includes two brief clips of its call.
Thanks in advance!
My family and I recently spent several weeks in Tanzania, Africa. The birding was wonderful, and though I was able to ID just about every species we saw, there were two in particular that remained mysteries. Hopefully somebody here can shed a little light on what they might have been.
However, I should note that I didn't see or photograph these birds, I only heard their calls. Fortunately, I was able to record the call of one and replicate that of the other, and I'll try to be as thorough as possible in describing exactly where I heard them.
The first bird we heard was at a camp near the tip of Tarangire National Park, and the habitat was flat grassland, where whistling thorn acacias were the dominant tree species. It was late morning, and the bird seemed to be calling from one of the trees right next to our tent, and when the calls stopped, I noticed a spotted morning-thrush (Cichladusa guttata) hopping around on the ground near where the call had originated. This led me to believe that the thrush was the one that was singing, but the recordings of its call that I've heard online are very different than what I heard in Africa.
The bird's song was so distinctive that the other members of my family pestered me to find out what it was. To most of us, the rich, whistling notes seemed very similar to the opening notes of "The Blue Danube", in both speed and pitch (my dad actually started calling it the "Straussbird"). I was unfortunately unable to record it singing, but I've included a recording of myself imitating the song as best as I can remember it. The last four notes (it might have just been three, I don't recall) were also a bit shriller than they are in my imitation. (This is the first attachment.)
The bird species I was able to record was in a montane forest on the slopes of Ngorongoro Crater, near Gibbs Farm. Its call seemed to be coming from a small but dense row of trees surrounded by fields of coffee on either side. I wasn't able to get close enough to see it, but its call was a loud, carrying series of alternating high and low whistles that would continue for several seconds, then repeat again after a brief pause. (This was also in the late morning.) The second attachment includes two brief clips of its call.
Thanks in advance!
