ID bird from sound

[Suffolk-Chris]

This is going to be hard to explain but does anyone have any ideas as to what might have made the noise which I will, in the absence of a recording, try to describe verbally.....

The noise was a reasonably melodic series of 3 "drips" .... My reason for calling them 'drips' is that the sound was as if someone from the BBC radiophonics workshop had been asked to make an electronic version of water dripping. The 3 'drips' were repeated several times then a silence when I think I heard response 'drips' from another individual further away.

It was almost dark (about 9.15pm) and the noises seemed to be emanating from an arable field, probably ground level - there is only one shrub in that stretch and it wasn't from there. The fields are drained fenland close to a wetland reserve and well away from habitation.

I did wonder if it was quail..... but it didn't sound quite right.

Anyone have any ideas?

I suspect that I'll be trying to get out there again one night this week armed with a recording device of some sort. Was going to try to record it on my camcorder tonight but there was a farmer racing up and down a nearby field on his tractor and the noise it was making would have drowned out the rest.... plus hubby was sat there saying "What???? What is it???? What IS it????" and swearing at a mosquito which was trying to use his nose as a feeding station.....

[Dogghound]

What crops was in the field? Could have been a quail. Although they let out a series of three calls quickly which I suppose like a quick metallic drip. Where the calls grouped? continuous? in small bursts?

[The Woodman]

Quail on Xeno Canto

Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) | on-line sounds from xeno-canto/europe

[RoyW]

Although it's obviously difficult to say for certain from a brief description, it does sound like it may have been Quail (I can't think of anything else that better fits the description - especially with the habitat and time of the observation).

[Suffolk-Chris]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

What crops was in the field? Where the calls grouped? continuous? in small bursts?

They were either spuds or sugar beet, and surrounding areas have old rape cultivation and some left as rough grassland.

The calls as far as I can remember (I just KNEW I should have made a note when it happened ) were 3 notes, no variation in note or pitch and repeated a few times with gaps of about 3-4 secs between each note then longer pauses between each group of notes. I say this, but might be mis-remembering.... It's my age!!

Now I'm going to HAVE to get out there again and sit and listen properly - with hubby's mouth taped shut.

[Suffolk-Chris]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Quail on Xeno Canto

Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) | on-line sounds from xeno-canto/europe

Brilliant link - thanks!!!

I've listened to a few of the quail recordings and am now about 90-95% sure that it was quail we heard. I know they have been sighted there this year so suspect that these might be dispersed youngsters lurking in the fields.

Still want to go back and get a positive ID.

[The Woodman]

Xeno Canto is an excellent resource. I went there to check your description against a Grey Partridge as I've heard that three "pip" call before. On one of the GP tracks the three pips can be heard right at the end but on balance, it's more likely to be Quail especially as you can ID from the sound file.

I think this is where WAB is missing a trick. It's been mentioned before but the ability to upload sound files in multiformat e.g.mp3, WAV, PCA, WMA would be so useful. I suspect it might be due to the filesize that it's not presently possible though.

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Xeno Canto is an excellent resource.

Agree!

I think this is where WAB is missing a trick. It's been mentioned before but the ability to upload sound files in multiformat e.g.mp3, WAV, PCA, WMA would be so useful. I suspect it might be due to the filesize that it's not presently possible though.

A lot of .MP3, if only short snippets, are usually quite small. .WAV is x10 larger than .MP3 so takes more space, not sure about the others!

Would be a nice feature to have on the site I reckon Or at least a link to Xeno Canto

Nige

[The Woodman]

To replicate an existing, well set up site like XC would not be the best idea. I was thinking along the lines of short files for ID but guess there aren't many who actively record bird song. From what I see, short video clips with sound are potentially the most useful as this facility is on most cameras these days. From the bits I shoot on occasion, again, the file size is huge but it must be compressible??

From what I understand from the instructions with my recorder, PCA is the same as WAV, I might not be right there though.

[htcdude]

Yeah can't find too much info on .PCA other than it's a Sony special

I guess an area to upload, like with the photos, would be handy.

And yes there are programs you can download to compress audio files

Nige