# Help me identfy this bird **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546 "2017-04-01T22:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/1 "2017-04-01T22:33:09Z")
…from a subjective description of its call. Heh. Best I can do. Can’t see it; it’s on a peak of the roof I can’t see from here. It goes:\* tsktsk\* trill, cheep cheep cheep cheep! The _tsk_ is like the similar sound a hummingbird makes. The trill is drawn out, and sort of scoops downward in pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/2 "2017-04-01T23:13:50Z")
[Song sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_sparrow)? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/3 "2017-04-01T23:14:43Z")
Sorry, there’s no way to identify a call from a subjective description like this, especially without information about location. We would just be guessing, with no way to confirm the ID. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/4 "2017-04-02T00:03:27Z")
**Brujaja** : Where are you??? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/5 "2017-04-02T00:05:25Z")
Make a recording a post it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/6 "2017-04-02T02:12:46Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > [Song sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_sparrow)? Maybe it’s [this particular type of song sparrow](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4d/70/11/4d701166df91e61b164e648a978cd357.jpg): ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/7 "2017-04-02T03:20:01Z")
When I posted, I was in Oakland, California. This may not be so reliable an indicator as it was previously, because I can tell you without a doubt that I have heard cardinals there the last couple of years. The song is not quite the same as that of the song sparrows posted; although it could be a variant on same. Certainly the best I can expect from a lame phonetic rendering of birdsong. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/8 "2017-04-02T03:22:54Z")
One thing I must say is that it’s been a lovely year for all kinds of birdsong. There’s nothing I love like the sound of (obviously) juvenile mockingbirds trying out their stuff for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identfy-this-bird/783546/9 "2017-04-02T03:29:15Z")
What fascinates me is the birds in the Walmart parking lot that sound like your power steering or brakes futzing up. Or the ones at tourist attractions that sound like cameras (not as common any more since phone cameras debuted).