If a sighting is seeing, what is a hearing called?!

Tabnabs · 07-02-2023 01:28PM #1

Was in the wilds of Wicklow recently and overnight I heard a very distinctive call (twice) from a nocturnal bird. I assumed it was one of our native owls, but on researching it online the calls were completely different. Searched a little wider and came back with a match for the Tawny owl. Problem is, all the guides say this bird is absolutely not found in Ireland. But the call was very clear, distinct and heard nearby, more than once. Is it usual for birds not normally resident to show up in Ireland?

07-02-2023 02:33PM

It depends on the species really. Tawny Owls tend to come across from Scotland to the north, on the very rare occasions they make it across.

Maybe a captive bird?

07-02-2023 02:39PM

I wonder if it was a bird that mimics other sounds it hears? I’m not sure if there’s many of those in Ireland but (and maybe I’m crazy) I am convinced a few weeks ago I heard a bird mimicking meows from a cat.

Tabnabs · 07-02-2023 03:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120211261#Comment_120211261

We were in a very remote part of Wicklow, in typical countryside for them (according to what I read) and no where near any buildings or private land. This one was wild and out and about.

07-02-2023 07:06PM

Starlings are our best mimics, but you wouldn't hear them at night, and a tawny owl I'd say is beyond their repertoire. Maybe an escaped captive bird? That happens quite a bit.

I really don't know, I have had a fair few sightings/glimpses/traces of God-knows-what over the years, have to put them down as things that will never be confirmed.

standardg60 · 07-02-2023 07:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120211283#Comment_120211283

Funnily enough my cat does a passable impression of a magpie when she sees one, a sort of quickfire ahahahah

Scotty # · 08-02-2023 10:51AM

There isn't a single report of a sighting ever of a Tawny Owl in Ireland on http://www.irishbirding.com which I'm surprised at.

There was one photographed in Co. Down in 2013 as reported by the BBC and there's plenty of claims from people who believe what they heard was a Tawny Owl but there's no concrete evidence that there's any resident.

I use an app called BirdNerd for identifying bird calls when I'm out, it's not perfect but it's pretty good.

Tabnabs · 08-02-2023 03:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120214459#Comment_120214459

Thanks, I'll download the app.

11James11 · 08-02-2023 11:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120215623#Comment_120215623

I discovered the merlin bird id app last year its the best app in my opinion for identify bird calls https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ some of the other apps were showing birds that can only be found in south america......

If a sighting is seeing, what is a hearing called?!

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