Middle of the Night Bird Noises

are you certain it's a recording, veets? i ask because over here in So Slope we've got a number of nesting catbirds and mockingbirds. these feathery creatures become very aggressive and territorial with nestlings, and have been making a racket day and night. one nest is in my next door neighbor's backyard tree. mama has been divebombing all intruders, too. i saw her knock a squirrel out of "her" tree (i thought the poor squirrel was a goner, but it survived), attack a seagull that came too close, and threaten people, too. if that's what you're hearing, the noise won't stop til the nestlings are gone, i'm afraid to say.

I believe there is a chirping version of this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/8c52/

Laura, I'm in awe of your ability to "lighten up" when you've been awoken several times each night for days on end! Tell us how you do it! Caffeine? Benzedrine? Crystal meth?

Brooke Lynn Knight wrote: Laura, I'm in awe of your ability to "lighten up" when you've been awoken several times each night for days on end! Tell us how you do it! Caffeine? Benzedrine? Crystal meth?

I've been awakened myself a lot lately by both the mockingbirds and the parrots when they get really raucous in the early morning. Sorry to be unsympathetic, I just think there are worse things to be awakened by in NYC than birds.

My neighbor sometimes wakes me up by slamming his door, playing music in the wee hours, and arguing with his girlfriend. When he's noisy I use an air purifier as a white noise machine and ear plugs when necessary.

Brooke Lynn Knight wrote: Hubby is a real bird lover, but I've heard him muttering about a shotgun.

"Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" - Atticus Finch

Jeez, ljnd, you and I and veets are all within a few blocks of each other -- I wonder if it's the same damn bird!

Brooke Lynn Knight wrote: Tequila Mockingbirds, eh? Now I know your secret. It's easy to "lighten up" with about a half-dozen of those down the hatch!

Those sound like someone's drunken "what's left in the liquor cabinet" experiments ... I'll stick with margaritas! /

Mamacita wrote: This particular one would imitate car alarms. Literally! Hard to believe but that is exactly what it sounded like!!

One around me does that too

It's definitely a live bird. It sings on my block every night (starts around 12- 12:15). I live on 8th Street between 4th + 5th Aves. It likes one particular tree under a bright streetlight.

I spent several hours on Saturday night goggling bird calls trying to figure out if it is a Nightingale or a Mockingbird. When I walk my dogs late, I actually stand under the tree where it hangs out laughing at its audacity and marvel at its huge repertoire!

The past few mornings it has moved into the backyard (between 8th + 7th streets). I'll be happy when its spring fling is over!

12:23 and I can hear the little bugger!!!
He's kind of like our own little Old Faithful (but louder!)

Subject: Re: Middle of the Night Bird Noises

Restless Native wrote: [quote=veets]these are not live birds.. It is clearly some recording or loop that some nutcase is playing and sending the sound out from a window. It is annoying and loud .

lol, you are so sure of this, sometimes I wonder if people think before they speak. Had the same mockingbird situation on 13st a while ago and thought it was a recording for about 5 mins before I thought to myself 'who would be nuts enough to waste their time doing something like that'.. there are a lot of crazy ppl out there, but come on.

I lived on 11th between 3rd and 4th for a year four years ago, and there used to be some guy in the vicinity who would howl like a dog at all sorts of odd times. It was clearly a person trying to sound like a dog, and I spoke with several people who lived around there who heard him all the time too. There ARE crazy people out there, so I don't see why it would be so hard to believe someone might record and then broadcast bird calls.

hoestead wrote:
I spent several hours on Saturday night goggling bird calls trying to figure out if it is a Nightingale or a Mockingbird. When I walk my dogs late, I actually stand under the tree where it hangs out laughing at its audacity and marvel at its huge repertoire!

nightingales don't live in the new world, btw.

because mockingbirds are mimics, they can sound like almost anything, which can make their song as such a tough way to identify them. one around me does car alarms (quite beautifully, i might add); another in my experience learned the favorite bach piece that a family friend liked to whistle.

they're pretty easy to recognize by sight -- a grey bird with a longish tail often held erect, slimmer than a robin but more or less that size. when they fly, you'll see white patches in the bottom middle of the wings and white bands on the side of the tail (not visible when not in flight). the only thing around here that looks like them otherwise is the cat bird, which is of similar size, shape, and color, without the white parts, and has a very cunning black cap. catbirds sound exactly like cats. even my bird-watching mother has been fooled into answering the door to let them in.

i love mockingbirds. they're the bird of the south, to me, and i'm happy to live with so many of them here.

we have one in Windsor terrace that starts singing at 1 am. I like it. I try to figure out what they're quoting. There was a man who found and identifiied a rare songbird because he heard a mockingbird mimicking it's song.

veets, this was posted on the Red Hook board.

tweetybird wrote: This weekend, on two different nights, I heard a VERY loud bird around 11pm. It sounded a lot like a parrot, but I couldn't see it. One was in a street tree on Van Brunt and the other was in Coffey Park. The one on Van Brunt was mimicing a car alarm and other strange noises. Has anyone else heard this??? (A friend was with me the first time and can corroborate this story -I'm not crazy!)

http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35639

I put a fan on at night sometimes as white noise, when it's not hot I just point it out the bedroom door so I don't get cold. Good luck!

We have the "Cats" and the "Mocks" in our yard. The Mockingbird does the car alarms and a really good Blue Jay.
I really love listening to them...but luckily I have never noticed them doing their thing in the middle of the night.

sweet tea wrote: [quote=hoestead]
I spent several hours on Saturday night goggling bird calls trying to figure out if it is a Nightingale or a Mockingbird. When I walk my dogs late, I actually stand under the tree where it hangs out laughing at its audacity and marvel at its huge repertoire!

nightingales don't live in the new world, btw.

because mockingbirds are mimics, they can sound like almost anything, which can make their song as such a tough way to identify them. one around me does car alarms (quite beautifully, i might add); another in my experience learned the favorite bach piece that a family friend liked to whistle.

they're pretty easy to recognize by sight -- a grey bird with a longish tail often held erect, slimmer than a robin but more or less that size. when they fly, you'll see white patches in the bottom middle of the wings and white bands on the side of the tail (not visible when not in flight). the only thing around here that looks like them otherwise is the cat bird, which is of similar size, shape, and color, without the white parts, and has a very cunning black cap. catbirds sound exactly like cats. even my bird-watching mother has been fooled into answering the door to let them in.

i love mockingbirds. they're the bird of the south, to me, and i'm happy to live with so many of them here.