A call to PF Ornithologists (birders)

[gringop]

Location: CenTex, Urban (Austin).

For as long as I have lived here (20 plus years) I have been hearing this call from my back yard at night. For a while I thought it was an owl, but I can't find any owl calls to match it.

night bird-.mp3

The Merlin app came up with "Grasshopper Sparrow" which is absolutely wrong. It has the descending triplet but is definitely not the right call.

The most prominent part is the descending triplet at 47 and 50 seconds in this recording. (that is what I've been hearing for the last 20 years)

There is some call and response in the recording so it seems to be a pair.

The recording is from my Pan-Tilt-Zoom Security cam in my back yard. I did some noise reduction and removed dead air spaces in Audacity (my PTZ cam shuts off the mic for a few seconds every time it pans.)

If anyone can ID it, I would be grateful. (Please make a deadly squirrel killing raptor)

I forgot to add, always nocturnal, never during daylight.

Gringop

[Crazy Dane]

https://globalbirdinginitiative.org/...irds-in-texas/

I use this site along with the Merlin app.

I'm not sayin it's not an owl but I've never heard an owl sound like that.

[Erik]

If you do facebook, I'd recommend trying one of the birding groups. There's a Central Texas Audubon page, though it doesn't seem very active. There's also What's this Bird? and I'm sure others.

[Pacioli]

Have you tried taking the recording to a Wild Birds Unlimited store? There are two in the Austin area. The folks at the those stores are some serious bird nerds and are usually plugged in to bird related state gov wildlife agencies, and universtiy research folks. Also, try reaching out to the TX Ornithological Society at texasbirds.org.

[CDH]

is it seasonal or all year?

[theJanitor]

I've got nothing to add, but to state my amazement in the breadth of knowledge our forum member's possess. I basically only know birds by how they taste

[JclInAtx]

I've heard something similar and thought it to be the geckos that like to hunt insects around our outdoor lights.

[Sig_Fiend]

It's most likely one of two frog species; the Rio Grande Chirping Frog (E. cystignathoides) or a Cliff Chirping Frog (E. marnockii). Just like your attached MP3, I hear the same exact thing in my area of central Texas. To me, it sounds closest to the Rio Grande Chirping Frog:





The thing that's easy to get confused with is, at least during the day, there's a pretty good mix of birds in the centex area that make somewhat similar chirping noises at slightly different speeds and pitches. For example, the Northern Cardinal, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and probably several others.

[idahojess]

I think I hear a Hemi at about 1:37.

[gringop]

It's most likely one of two frog species; the Rio Grande Chirping Frog (E. cystignathoides) or a Cliff Chirping Frog (E. marnockii). Just like your attached MP3, I hear the same exact thing in my area of central Texas. To me, it sounds closest to the Rio Grande Chirping Frog:

I think that you have nailed it, it sounds just like the Rio Grande Chirping frog.

It is truly amazing the amount of smart folks that we have on this forum.

Thanks again,

Gringop