# Which bird is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887 "2010-01-29T14:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/1 "2010-01-29T14:29:16Z")
I feel extremely silly and well, ignorant, but I was wondering if anyone could identify this birdcall. I tried googling bird calls and going through a few of the more common birds, but no match. However, it seems very common, so maybe I’m missing something. 😕 I’ve heard them in northern Italy and in my native Netherlands, but not in Ireland or England, though in England I lived by the sea where gulls would drown out everything else so they may have been there. It’s not really singing or chittering, more of a call. It’s always the same: Ahem _scrapes throat_ woo woooooo woo (short long short) It keeps this up throughout the day (I can hear one now and it is 15.30 here) but not at night. I know this is a crap description, but I feel the answer is really obvious, so maybe someone could make something of it. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/2 "2010-01-29T14:56:47Z")
Maybe a mourning dove? Google that for a sound bite. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/3 "2010-01-29T15:01:59Z")
Need to know about the environment: is it in town, near habitations, in the woods etc… First guess: Turtle dove. There are no mourning doves in Europe ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/4 "2010-01-29T15:21:06Z")
I googled Turtle Dove, but they seem slightly purring. Very close, though. So I think I’ve got my birdie in the Eurasian Collared Dove. Well close enough that I had to stop the sound file to check whether I was listening to one outside or on my laptop. Thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/5 "2010-01-29T16:21:32Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > though in England I lived by the sea poetic! > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > I googled Turtle Dove, but they seem slightly purring. Yes, it’s a little-known fact that you’ll generally need _two_ turtle doves to make as loud a sound as a partridge in a pear tree, although in a pinch, three French hens will do. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partridge_in_a_pear_tree) ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/6 "2010-01-29T16:35:58Z")
Try the Common Pigeon. [http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Pigeon-sounds.htm](http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Pigeon-sounds.htm) [http://www.junglewalk.com/popuptop.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=5619](http://www.junglewalk.com/popuptop.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=5619) ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/7 "2010-01-29T16:58:40Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > Try the Common Pigeon. Nope, we have lots of those flying rats around here, but I know what they sound like. No, I think the Collared Dove is right. It sounds exactly like the one in [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJNIEtS9Gcs). ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/8 "2010-01-29T17:09:18Z")
Ah, a “Turkse Tortelduif”! Yes, a very remarkable sound. When courting, they will also make a soft laughing sound that is different from their normal sound: it sounds something like “hehheh heh”. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/9 "2010-01-29T19:55:54Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Ah, a “Turkse Tortelduif”! Yes, a very remarkable sound. When courting, they will also make a soft laughing sound that is different from their normal sound: it sounds something like “hehheh heh”. Leading me to believe that I’ve inadvertently married a Turske Tortelduif. Do they also sometimes point? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/10 "2010-01-29T23:39:17Z")
No, but they perch, and bobble their heads. They are very loyal mates, though. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bird-is-this/526887/11 "2010-01-29T23:42:03Z")
Yep, I did.