I hear one here occasionally, at first I though children playing with a whistle.
In Northland.
jphs,
Aug 8, 10:16pm
ah. is that for half time or a penalty?
zak410,
Aug 8, 10:21pm
hehe, more like a penalty, not very long, but every minute or so. until the bird moves on.
piquant,
Aug 8, 10:52pm
Try www.whatbird.co.nz/ or enter NZ Birdsong into google - there are several other options there including the radio NZ morning birdsong.
zak410,
Aug 8, 11:13pm
Thanks for that, I tried the site you mentioned and others before asking here, the problem is I don't know the name of the bird nor what it looks like as it's very elusive, looking at a book with good description of bird-songs now: "Which New Zealand Bird" by Andrew Crowe. Hopefully, someone here will know?
rainrain1,
Aug 8, 11:18pm
It could be a thrush, they sing their wee hearts out
jphs,
Aug 9, 1:13am
or a Grey Warbler. They are a wonderful little songbird to have around your home. Tiny little things that sing their heart out.
zak410,
Aug 9, 1:19am
Thanks, but no, not a Thrush although we have them here, nor a Grey Warbler according to their songs on website.
We've been in same place for about 25 years and just noticed this referee's whistle sounding bird recently, seems to be calling for a mate and moves-on, never staying very long.
jphs,
Aug 9, 2:11am
Could it be a Rosella? One of their calls is a bell like "ping".
piquant,
Aug 9, 2:25am
Are you coastal or bush?
zak410,
Aug 9, 2:31am
Not a Rosella, although we also have them here, they travel in pair and make 'quite a racket', we are very near bush but also only about 5km from the sea.
brightlights60,
Aug 9, 4:09am
I have a great wee book here, with an accompanying CD, its called "Tea for Tui" and has all the birdsong in it, plus what to feed the wild birds. We had one over by the beach when we lived in Waimairi Beach (Chch) and it sounded just like a cordless phone, used to drive me mad.
piquant,
Aug 9, 6:06am
I wonder if it might be a bellbird. I wondered for a long time about a bird call I had here last summer. It wasn't quite like a whistle but it was not what I could reasonably identify - despite trying umpteen sited to ID it. It too, moved around and never stayed in one place long enough to see it but my brother was here one day when it was calling and he assured me it was a bellbird. The calls seem so varied though - it's hard to be definitive.
zak410,
Aug 9, 5:10pm
Thanks piquant, from what I hear on Youtube or other sites I don't think it is a Bellbird.
All I can say about 'our' bird here is that he sounds exactly like a referee's whistle.
I used to play Football long time ago and I would for sure have stop playing to the sound of this bird.
I'll try to capture the sound if I can but I doubt my phone be up to it. Thanks for the replies so far.
jphs,
Aug 9, 5:12pm
Your bird may well have listened to a whistle and is imitating it. We have a bird around here that imitates a landline phone ring perfectly. Funny things aren't they?
zak410,
Aug 9, 5:25pm
I suppose it could be, but somehow I don't think so. This bird only pass through rarely, sings 3 or 4 times minute apart then moves-on, also we are very rural.
I know what you mean about the 'landline' song too, have heard it but thought it was a Blackbird?
jphs,
Aug 9, 5:45pm
I mentioned Rosellas earlier; do you realise they have a number of very different types of call? There is their social jabbery-noisy one and another call which is a sustained "ping" which they use to call out to their mates. It sounds not unlike the sonar noise you hear on old war movies when people are in a submarine only a bit higher pitch.
That is so true. Perhaps the bird has lived near a sports ground. I have known both Tui and starlings to be excellent imitators. I have heard Tui imitate squeaky swings and phones. As a child we had a starling which imitated a chainsaw. In Wellington they had trouble with Tui imitating monkeys (from the zoo) which convinced people that the monkeys had escaped.
hilt_dwane,
Aug 10, 12:14am
Could it be a magpie? They are pretty good at imitating. I remember walking to college as a teen and was very embarrassed going past a particular house - every time, I got a wolf whistle. Was ages until I found out it was a pet magpie haha!
laurenlee,
Aug 10, 2:00am
I am sure it is a kingfisher-their call is just the one note repeated after a few seconds. They are hard to spot too.
zak410,
Aug 10, 3:04am
Not many more Magpies around here, so much planting means we have a lot of Tuis, they are now the dominant birds around and aren??
mottly,
Oct 30, 6:04am
We have tuis here that make all sorts of weird calls.
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