Help identifying bird call.

Cú Giobach

Yesterday I heard what I assume was a bird call I have never heard before, and was hoping someone could help me identify it.
I have spent ages trying to think of a way of describing it and this is the best I can come up with, it was a dhaw dhaw sound (like "th" in this), with a slight twang to it, almost like the sound of a thick, muted rubber band being plucked, repeated about 4/5 times in a row. Dhaw dhaw dhaw dhaw........
Any guesses? Thanks.

jmkennedyie

Can you give more info?

Time of day?
Part of the country?
Habitat?
Where was the sound coming from? a field? tree? ground? lake? roof of house?
Are there any birds it could remind you of? Bird of Prey? Game bird? Crow? Water bird?
From the pitch/volume etc. did you get a sense for how large the bird is?

ibetterheadon

At a guess it might be a snipe, I think, they fly up high and as they drop they vibrate their wing to make a noise. I’ve only heard them in the north of the country. But i could be very wrong I’m sure there are more knowledgeable people who can help more but more info would be needed.
try this site
http://pjdeye.blogspot.com/2009/05/shorebird-calls-iii-woodcock-and-snipe.html

swifts need our help!

Cú Giobach wrote: »

it was a dhaw dhaw sound (like "th" in this), with a slight twang to it, almost like the sound of a thick, muted rubber band being plucked, repeated about 4/5 times in a row. Dhaw dhaw dhaw dhaw.........

Does your description mean it was calling thaw thaw?

What about a chough?

Cú Giobach

Early evening/late afternoon in a cow field next to a tidal mud/sand flat (tide in) on the coast of South West Cork.
It must have been large, it was quite deep, a single "dhaw" over 1 to 2 seconds repeated about 3 or 4 seconds apart. There was about 10 single calls in a row then it stopped for a minute and gave 3 or 4 more and I haven't heard anything since.
It wasn't a snipe or a chough, I've checked both sounds.
I hear a huge variety of birds around here, and though I don't know lots of them they are all familiar sounds to me, this I have never heard before, anywhere.
It is an isolated spot with no houses, machinery or people, just empty fields and the sea.

jmkennedyie

I dunno...might be a coastal bird which I'm not so familiar with

Just thinking out loud... maybe an unusal seabird, or even a vagrant. Some other folks have seen skuas flying over headlands. Lots of shearwaters off Cape Clear these days. Other recent Cork rarieties here: http://www.irishbirding.com/birds/web

jmkennedyie

A very very very remote possibility is of course starling...mimicking an elastic band it may have heard

Heard one on Cape Clear bird observatory roof mimicking a curlew, sedge warbler, gull and other bits and pieces. At first I thought it was the warden playing a CD to wind us up. Apparently there was another one in a petrol station that overheard the sound of the phone ringing. It drove the staff mad running in to answer phones that weren't ringing...

1squidge

Could it be a woodcock?

Cú Giobach

Thanks for the replies.

jmkennedyie wrote: »

I dunno...might be a coastal bird which I'm not so familiar with
A very very very remote possibility is of course starling...mimicking an elastic band it may have heard

We get a lot of people coming around here to watch the shore birds, some rare ones around alright.
Someone's lost their pet Lyrebird.

1squidge wrote: »

Could it be a woodcock?

Didn't sound like any of the woodcock recordings I've listened to.

My dogs have been going crazy because I'm playing all sorts of bird calls on the laptop, nothing remotely like or even slightly similar to what I heard though. Hmmmm.......

tipseymcT

Could it be a long eared owl? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd4RKwtFfc8 we have them in the trees behind our house,didnt know what was making the noise for years!

swifts need our help!

LEO chicks sound like squeaky gates

swifts need our help!

"the best I can come up with, it was a dhaw dhaw sound (like "th" in this), with a slight twang to" thaw thaw thaw

Could it be a corvid? Hooded crows and Carrion crows do a deep throaty caw

or a Raven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUNG0Tl2II8

E39MSport

I've heard new sounds too. 4 to 5 short sharp but quiet enough calls. Repeated a few times.

Turned out to be a mother Pheasant calling to her chicks.

Cú Giobach

Again thanks for the input, but it doesn't sound like anything mentioned.
It's not as "harsh" as any corvid sound, it has more of a twang to it and is much "cleaner".
Nobody around here has any idea either.