Great sound, but not while you’re asleep! When birds communicate, air passes through a syrinx or “voice box” and can produce something far sweeter. Andy. Those shrubs are the birds’ stage from which they sing and, if you’re lucky, do a dance known as “skylarking,” or fluttering skyward while singing. Someone native to Wisconsin sure doesn’t sound the same as someone native to Georgia. If you want to hear a variety of songs (in addition to those we’re providing), there are several worthy websites, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macauley Library and the one we utilized for this article, www.xeno-canto.org. This little wren might be the most versatile and complex songster of the bunch. Caution is advised to biologists and landowners charged with surveying birds: This one does a great job mimicking vocalizations of other birds, especially crow caws, bobwhite whistles and pileated woodpecker clucks. The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. While sleeping in a tent at dawn, I found that a group of raucous plain chachalacas is worse than any alarm clock. Who isn’t impressed when a super-charged and excited pair of these owls begins to emit their monkey-like calls? If you want to know which bird sits (or sings) at the top of my list, the wood thrush is it. Enough said! Like humans, birds have different regional dialects. Every time I hear one, I’m forever appreciative of the door into nature that opened up for me. One of the sweetest songs and dearest to me, as it’s the representative song of open pine forests that once ranged throughout the eastern third of Texas, where I live. Within a given species of bird, we believe their songs and calls mean different things as they communicate. To attract a female, two males will sometimes compete in what is called a ‘fencing duel’ in the presence of a female. Two words come to mind when describing this one: bouncy and almost eerie. Other woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers. It’s also soothing on weekends while I’m reading or snoozing on the couch with the windows wide open. Old-timers refer to this one as the “rain crow.” The reasoning behind that colloquial name has swirled around a bit and lost its meaning. Other than splashing around in our birdbath, this bird has severe stage fright, usually retreating to the shrubs except when he sits up, fairly conspicuously, to sing aloud. Home. This year-round resident is not vocal during fall and winter. Listen to Pileated woodpecker on bird-sounds.net - a comprehensive collection of North American bird songs and bird calls. Short bursts of varying squeaks, chuckles, squawks or rattles are followed by short pauses as if listening for a response. Canyon wrens hop around in search of insects, nest among the rocks and bob up and down while vocalizing from the top. This mimic is related to our state bird, the northern mockingbird, but the thrasher imitates notes in duplicate and not triplicate like the mockingbird (or in singles like another relative, the gray catbird). They “chat” the most in old fields or regenerating clear-cuts in the eastern part of the state or thickets of scrub and streamside areas out west. Pileated woodpecker. call. Acorn woodpecker. You’ll need good luck to see one, but you can’t miss the incredible sounds of its remarkable descending song. Bell’s vireo makes up for it, though, in a busy, hurried song played on repeat mode. Its song reminds me of an old man griping and whining about something upsetting. Bird calls, however, are simple and usually not very musical. To hear a Bachman’s sparrow, visit that national forest from early March through September. Despite what Grandpa taught you, the one you hear in the eastern half of Texas during the hot summer months is the “Chuck” and not a “Whip.” Pleasant when heard farther off, this song is representative of dark skies and denser forests. How can I leave off the bird that “hooked” me into birding when I was a kid growing up here in Texas? Search. No other night bird in Texas is more misidentified than this one, thanks to various literary works that mention the night sounds of the eastern whip-poor-will, a species that only migrates through Texas. The farthest east I’ve ever heard one is the Barton Creek greenbelt in Austin. Without question, it goes to the Montezuma oropendola of Central America. © 2005-2020 Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Sleeping with the bedroom windows open during cool winter or spring nights often allowed for pleasant sound bites of this owl. His colors aren’t jazzy, but his showmanship commands attention —you’ll be hoping for an encore. A - Z. App. If you’re lucky enough to spot this thicket-loving bird, there’s not much to see, as its colors are subtle and drab. Been there, done that. Arranged in random order, let’s “see” my Top Ten Bird Hits and a few others, but be sure to “listen” to them as well. Listen for them in mature woodlands, where they’re fond of tent caterpillars. Unlike most woodpeckers, these birds spend most of their time foraging for food on the ground. A romantic bout of owling from this bird was the soundtrack to one of my first dates with the woman who is now my wife. The last stronghold of the species in Texas is the longleaf belt that includes the south end of the Angelina National Forest, south of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. It’d almost be dusk in May and June and he’d still belt out those lovely ee-oh-lays that always took my breath away (rhymes like a song, eh?). In graduate school, I rented a simple house tucked into the woods that, unbeknownst to me, included a singing male who never failed to perform each and every day during the breeding season. They will do this display whilst emitting a call that sounds like wicka. This is one of the last species to arrive at its breeding grounds in Texas after overwintering in the tropics. And, like singers in rock bands, they often achieve great echoes while singing away through the canyons. Favorites. A challenge for Eddie Van Halen would be to transcribe this one to guitar and perform it. The bird “says” its name, but don’t expect to hear the first note, the “chuck,” if he’s far away. HONORABLE MENTION. As the name may suggest, it sounds as if it’s having a chat or conversation with another. I’ve heard them in at least three countries, but the species does not range into Texas, so you’ll have to get your passport ready to find one. Along with the whistles of bobwhite quail, this was once a dominant song ringing through longleaf or shortleaf pine savannas thick with a healthy grass-forb layer. This migrant, which leaves us during the colder months for warmer climates to our south, returns to thickets across various parts of our state with a vengeance, even though it’s quite vulnerable to nest parasitism by cowbirds. This sparrow is often cyclical due to rainfall and habitat conditions but resides in grassy areas mixed with shrubs. You might think you hear a human whistling away in the South Texas brush, but it might really be this yellow-and-black oriole. HONORABLE MENTION. Some people use bird song ringtones on their cellphones, but that can cause problems. TP&W magazine on Facebook. This bird lives in thick shrubs and brush in various parts of the state. Chip notes are short calls given to announce food or just to stay in touch, and they’re used more commonly year-round. Their context is quite different. These birds are often heard in grasslands of mostly native grasses and forbs, and many males together sound like a cacophony of high-frequency whistles and chips. While this wren is fairly drab, his song is absolutely wonderful and the one I miss most when leaving the western half of the state, where this bird can be found in thick vegetation.