mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) (05/29/90)
Can anyone out there help me? This is my first attempt at posting to this group so please bear with me if I post incorrectly. I have just started to get interested in bird watching. My extent so far is a feeder and a bird bath in my backyard. I live in Washington, (Warren County) NJ, which is kind of country. This is my situation: Feeling nature's call around 2:00 - 3:00 a.m., I head to the bathroom. About this time, I can hear what I am guessing is a Northern Mockingbird. What I am hearing is a variety of bird calls in random order; hence, my humble guess. I cannot see this bird at all, only hear its sounds. My neighbors tell me that what I am hearing is bats. I have awoken my husband to hear these strange sounds and he, too, is curious. At times, I have opened the window and made my own sounds -- "cheep, cheep, birdeeee, birdeeee, birdeeee" and to my amazement, it repeats what I say. Based on such little information, can anyone identify this bird? Don't birds sleep at night? Can these sounds be coming from bats? I would appreciate receiving your comments and experiences. Thank you in advance. -- Barbara McAloon mcaloon@soleil.nj.semi.harris.com ..!rutgers!soleil!mcaloon
sandee@fsu.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) (05/29/90)
In article <976@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: >Feeling nature's call around 2:00 - 3:00 a.m., I head to the bathroom. About >this time, I can hear what I am guessing is a Northern Mockingbird. What I >am hearing is a variety of bird calls in random order; hence, my humble >guess. I cannot see this bird at all, only hear its sounds. My neighbors tell >me that what I am hearing is bats. Bats make squeaky noises, like running a nail over a window pane. Also, it's so high pitched that older people can't hear it. It's in the same range as the whine coming out of the back of your TV set. (Now I wonder - modern TVs seem to make less noise. Is that because they're modern, or is it because I'm getting older ??) Mockingbirds make lots of weird noises, but it's always musical. > >At times, I have opened the window and made my own sounds -- "cheep, cheep, >birdeeee, birdeeee, birdeeee" and to my amazement, it repeats what I say. Great! There are more birds that imitate (like starlings), but if the sound it makes is musical, then it will be a mockingbird. Also, it's the only bird I know that will sing more or less around the clock (and in Florida, more or less all year ; in NJ you would hear them from April to September, I suppose). > >I would appreciate receiving your comments and experiences. Thank you in >advance. > Don't mention it. Hope this makes you sleep better at night. Daan Sandee Supercomputer Computations Research Institute (904) 644-7045 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 sandee@scri1.scri.fsu.edu
rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) (05/30/90)
In article <976@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: > Feeling nature's call around 2:00 - 3:00 a.m., I head to the bathroom. About > this time, I can hear what I am guessing is a Northern Mockingbird. What I > am hearing is a variety of bird calls in random order; hence, my humble > guess. I cannot see this bird at all, only hear its sounds. My neighbors tell > me that what I am hearing is bats. It could well be a mockingbird; they are one bird that sometimes does sing at night. Mockingbirds usually repeat a phrase several times. For example, they might do phrase A 4 times, then phrase B 5 times, then phrase C 3 times, etc. If it's singing at night it's probably around in the daytime too, so you could try looking for it. I doubt bat sounds would be confused with bird songs. Bats make very high-pitched squeaks (some people can hear them; I can't), whereas the mockingbird sings loudly in a much more audible range. -- - Ron Mura, Boston, Mass. rmura@world.std.com
horvath@granite.cr.bull.com (John Horvath) (05/30/90)
In article <976@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: > >At times, I have opened the window and made my own sounds -- "cheep, cheep, >birdeeee, birdeeee, birdeeee" and to my amazement, it repeats what I say. > >Based on such little information, can anyone identify this bird? Don't birds >sleep at night? Can these sounds be coming from bats? > There is no doubt that what you are describing is a mockingbird. The only bird that sings so loud at night that it causes people to hear it that normally aren't out listening for such things, is a mockingbird. It can get rather annoying if it decides to do this next to your window and you are a light sleeper. Another clue is that the mockingbird will repeat a phrase 3 times, pick something completely different and repeat it 3 times, and continue this until it gets distracted. Sometimes it may repeat the phrase more or less times, but 3 times is the characteristic number.
pab@lucid.com (Peter Benson) (05/30/90)
For a while there was a parrot near work that would imitate a mockingbird. It sounded just like a mockingbird only with a clearly different accent. Mockingbirds always remind me of riding home from work on my bicycle at a 4:00 am after a loong day. -ptr-
jlevy@cbnewsd.att.com (janet.levy) (05/31/90)
>In article <976@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: > >At times, I have opened the window and made my own sounds -- "cheep, cheep, >birdeeee, birdeeee, birdeeee" and to my amazement, it repeats what I say. > I have tried this with mockingbirds when I am visiting in the Carolinas. They really do try to copy your sounds moments after you produce them. It seems amazing to me since my experience with mimics is with psitticines who often only learn to speak after a million repetitions. By the way, I once had a pet starling who learned many bird songs and people whistles. He tried to do human speech, but only I knew what he was saying. Janet Levy jsl@ihlpm.ATT.COM
sbishop@desire.wright.edu (06/01/90)
In article <1990May30.224659.24948@cbnewsd.att.com>, jlevy@cbnewsd.att.com (janet.levy) writes: >>In article <976@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: >> >>At times, I have opened the window and made my own sounds -- "cheep, cheep, >>birdeeee, birdeeee, birdeeee" and to my amazement, it repeats what I say. >> > > I have tried this with mockingbirds when I am visiting in the Carolinas. > They really do try to copy your sounds moments after you produce > them. It seems amazing to me since my experience with mimics is with > psitticines who often only learn to speak after a million repetitions. > By the way, I once had a pet starling who learned many bird songs and people > whistles. He tried to do human speech, but only I knew what he was > saying. > I have a problem with you saying it takes a million repititions to get a psitticine to talk. It just depends on the bird. I have a parakeet who picked up sneezing from me. (I have allergies) He also coughs and blows his nose, calls the dog, and it only takes about a week of brief repetitions to learn a new phrase. His vocabulary is quite large and expands very often. I have also caught him mimicing the microwave oven noise, the phone ring and the oven timer buzz. While his voice is (understandably) not very loud, he says, "Hi, Stupid!" Everytime I walk into the kitchen. My kids taught him that! I really don't know how much he can learn to say but he is a real talker!
pratt@paul.rutgers.edu (Lorien Y. Pratt) (06/02/90)
>Feeling nature's call around 2:00 - 3:00 a.m., I head to the bathroom. About >this time, I can hear what I am guessing is a Northern Mockingbird. What I >am hearing is a variety of bird calls in random order; hence, my humble >guess. I cannot see this bird at all, only hear its sounds. My neighbors tell >me that what I am hearing is bats. I seem to recall a posting similar to this one about a year ago. The response was that lonely, unmated male mockingbirds are the ones that sing at night. The theory goes that they have lots of excess energy... Relevant quotes from John K. Terres' Audobon Encyclopaedia of North American Birds (Alfred Knopf, NY, 1987): page 610: Most famous member of family is the mockingbird...has imitated songs within 10 minutes, also notes of frog, cricket, piano and squeak of wheelbarrow page 611: ...bird famed as mimic and for rapturous singing on moonlit nights among magnolias and moss-covered live oaks of South...male sings by day or night, strongly musical song with almost endless variations...especially noted for mimicry of sounds so expertly copied that an electronic analysis cannot detect differences from original; besides 39 species songs and 50 call notes, has imitated cackling of hen, barking of dog, postman's whistle and even notes of piano (Forbush, 1925-29) Also see about a 500-word essay on Mockingbird mimicry, page 608, with much the same theme, but more references and studies of their amazing vocal mimicry: ``by far the most famed for vocal micry among N. American birds. Many, perhaps most, are remarkable mimics'' -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- L. Y. Pratt Computer Science Department pratt@paul.rutgers.edu Rutgers University Hill Center (201) 932-4634 New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA
mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) (07/24/90)
I think I have a problem! My previously enjoyable experience with the Northern Mockingbird singing in my backyard is turning out to be a small problem, I think! My Mockingbird (appears to be only one) has decided to sing to me via my metal chimney. I do not think there is a nest there because the chimney is in the open and would be exposed to other birds. So, I guess he likes to hear himself singing! Has anyone experienced this before? How do I get rid of him this winter? Right now, it's still cute, but when I start a fire later this year . . . One of my friends said not to worry because the smoke will drive it away, but I'd like to hear from you experienced birders. Is there anything I can do now to keep him singing in the trees and not down my chimney? Thanks in advance. Barbara-- Barbara McAloon mcaloon@soleil.nj.semi.harris.com ..!rutgers!soleil!mcaloon
rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) (07/24/90)
In article <1076@soleil.UUCP> mcaloon@soleil.UUCP (Barbara McAloon) writes: > > > I think I have a problem! My previously enjoyable experience with the Northern > Mockingbird singing in my backyard is turning out to be a small problem, I > think! I had one several years ago that liked to rap on the TV antenna that was attached to the chimney. The solution for that one was easy: I just took the antenna down, since we weren't using it anyway. > My Mockingbird (appears to be only one) has decided to sing to me via my metal > chimney. I do not think there is a nest there because the chimney is in the > open and would be exposed to other birds. So, I guess he likes to hear > himself singing! Has anyone experienced this before? How do I get rid of him > this winter? Right now, it's still cute, but when I start a fire later this > year . . . > > One of my friends said not to worry because the smoke will drive it away, but > I'd like to hear from you experienced birders. Is there anything I can do now > to keep him singing in the trees and not down my chimney? If he is just sitting at the top and singing, I wouldn't worry too much-- if it starts getting too warm, he'll leave. If he is actually going inside, which would be unusual in my experience, then I would consider a chimney cap (you can buy them at a building supply place) if he is still at it in the fall. -- - Ron Mura, Boston, Mass. rmura@world.std.com