Many thanks to Mike for his suggestions! His first suggestion was Pileated woodpecker, and he provided a link to Cornell's site to hear the song. It was not a Pileated. I missed the listing of similar songs at first, but when I checked them, I think it was probably a Northern Flicker. It was certainly the right kind of habitat for a Flicker, and that would explain the sound being familiar to me. (We see Flickers around here quite a bit.)
I am familiar with the Common Loon song, so I know it wasn't that, although it's always good to remember that birdsong can echo/bounce, and it can be hard to know what direction it is coming from, especially when near water. I do appreciate the feedback on both this question and the one I asked earlier about Greater Scaup. It is very easy to feel isolated as a birder given where I live, and the recent discussion has helped me feel more connected. Lorinda Lorinda Hoover, OSL [email protected] On Apr 22, 2010, at 1:21 PM, Meetz, Michael C [VDPAM] wrote: > Laughing could be the tremolo call of the Common Loon. This song track used > in movies(many in settings outside its locations) to depict the mood you > referred to. > > Mike > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lorinda Hoover > Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 1:00 PM > To: IA-BIRD > Subject: [ia-bird] Identifying a Bird by Voice only > > While walking at Feather Stone Memorial Park (North Twin Lake, Calhoun > County), today, I heard a bird with a distinctive voice. I didn't see it, > only heard it. Unfortunately, while it sounded familiar, I don't know what > bird it was. If I had to describe it, I would say it was a "laughing" sound, > repeated several times perhaps rising slightly over the course of the > call/song. It immediately brought to mind movies/TV episodes set outside in > the evening, where this bird song (or a similar one) is used to evoke a mild > sense of foreboding or wilderness. [Note, though that I was there in the > morning] > > Any ideas? Any suggestions how I might "search by song" for a bird? If I > had some ideas, I could listen to the various songs/calls at Whatbird.com or > similar, but without any ideas, I'm stuck. > > The park in question is along the shores of North Twin Lake. The bird was > signing in a grassy area where there are several trees, but not what I would > call a "woods" or even a "thicket." I did not see any birds I didn't > recognize on the ground (although I could have missed it). I had the sense > it was in one of the trees, but that's pretty tentative. > > > Lorinda Hoover, OSL > Rockwell City, Iowa > > > > > > --- > Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members > make it! > --- > Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: > Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 > --- > This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership > available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. > ----- > You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected] > > --- > Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members > make it! > --- > Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: > Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 > --- > This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership > available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. > ----- > You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected] --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
