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Bird identification based on call?

12 years ago

Hello! I don't know a whole lot about bird watching, but I just heard a very bizarre bird call and thought a forum like this one might be able to help me out.

I live in Allston, Massachusetts. I've lived here for a while and I'm used to the bird calls in the area by now. Songbirds and seagulls and pigeons, basically. But just a moment ago, I heard a very strange bird call I had never heard before.

The first call sounded like "PEE-DAA." It lasted a little under half a second. The "PEE" was high pitched while the "DAA" was a bit lower. It repeated this 2-3 times.

The second call sounded like "OOOOOO-WEE." It lasted just about 1 second. It started off low pitched but progressively became higher pitched, though not as high pitched as the "DAA" in the first call. It also sounded a bit like a trill.

I know this is probably an odd request and I'm not even sure if you can identify a bird by that description, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Comments (5)

alan_la
12 years ago
You may want to check out an Eastern Pheobe.
PotatoJoe
Original Author
12 years ago
I just looked it up and that's not the same bird I heard. Thank you, though!
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Cathy_in_PA
12 years ago
Hi PotatoJoe,

I'm not sure where you're located, but you may want to check out tufted titmouse -- classic "peter" song. I've linked below for you.

Have fun birding by ear.

Cathy in SWPA

Here is a link that might be useful: tufted titmouse info
Elly_NJ
12 years ago
Yes! Tufted titmouse. Perfect description, too.
PotatoJoe
Original Author
12 years ago
I checked out the tufted titmouse and unfortunately that is not the bird I heard either. It's too quick and far more high pitched than I heard. Thank you as well, though!

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