…than the sound of some of the native birds in our front yard. Actually, some of the native birds sound very much like cars crashing.
Why am I telling you this? Well, because, quite frankly, I’m a little jealous. Kim posted about a sweet little pirate bird, a sparrow, who serenaded her quite sweetly outside her window while she worked. At the moment in which I read of her beautifully melodic distraction, I was also being serenaded from outside, not so dulcetly. *sigh*
Allow me to demonstrate by introducing you to some of the birds in our front yard.
The Maggies:
- The Magpie
The Magpies don’t look too pretty but make one of the nicest sounds of all our little visitors. My boys like to talk to them as the handfeed them by gurgling water and cooing simultaneously. It works. The magpies reply. They sound like this.
Our pretty birds, the Rainbow Lorikeets, sound rather well…let’s just say looks can be deceiving.
Tell me what you think of their song.
Next we have the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos:
- Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
These guys look pretty and take part in all kinds of clownish fun. However, they are also known as ‘The Screechers’ and if you listen here you will discover why. *sigh*
Wait it gets better…
The birds that truly drive me insane are the Corellas. Gah! They are so very, very grating.
Poor little guys. They are rather unattractive too. They look like they’ve been beaten up and are constantly sporting blackeyes. They probably are the bullied birds of the burbs and when you hear their song, cry, screams, you’ll understand why they probably have been beaten up by the other birds. Gah! And that was a tame sound file! Often we will have MASSES of these little guys in the gum trees out the front all screaming together. They sound like brakes screeching, metal twisting against metal and wicked spectators laughing at the scene of a gruesome accident. Actually, the sound of a car crash would be more soothing. These are the birds I was listening to while Kim was being serenaded by a little pirate-ish sparrow.
*sigh*
Tags: birds
regainingparadise 
April 5, 2009 at 2:44 pm |
I listened to them all at once. It was quite the experience.
We have magpies. And ravens. Our ravens can be pretty loud–and not pretty–but it’s not constant.
April 5, 2009 at 3:49 pm |
Ha! Welcome to my yard! 🙂
Ooh! Ravens are scary looking! We have crows who are similar to ravens. They are massive birds who appear at school and sit outside the windows. My students think they are hilarious and laugh each time they crow! Gah! It can be so painful, both the crowing and the inattentiveness of the students. I have to admit though, when we had a crow that seemed to be experiencing a breaking voice, it was very funny. Is this what your ravens sound like?
[audio src="http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/corvus-coronoides.mp3" /]
Not constant is so good, Rebecca! Our birds arrive for a morning and afternoon feed – the two times when I am most often home. At least we get a middle-of-the-day break.
April 5, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
Oh, I like the sound of your magpie! It reminds me of a rain stick.
I think all your birds, though racuous, are marvelous, not to mention beautiful. But then, I’ve never been awakened in the morning by that cacophany!
I love the way you put the sounds in order of their, shall we say, ascending annoyance factor.
My favorite birdsong is the meadowlark. We used to have them when we lived in Kentucky. My heart leapt every time I heard one–even when I listened just now online. The recording doesn’t do justice to their melodic, plaintive call.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Eastern_Meadowlark.html#fig1
April 5, 2009 at 11:41 pm |
Awww! you get all the gorgeous sounding birds, Kim! The meadowlark sounds adorable!!!
Thanks for loving our noisy screechers too. I must admit, despite my jealousy and sometimes annoyance, I am pretty stoked to have such raucous birds in our yard. They are obstreperous but in a kind of endearing way – mostly. It’s nice that they visit. Nice that they feel at home in our yard. I like native animals. It feels like we are caring for God’s world when we give them a place to feed and squawk. I just don’t know why Australia seems to get all that is rugged and everywhere else gets the delicate beauty. It’s a strange thing.
April 6, 2009 at 12:34 am |
At the condo we don’t hear any birds at all. Just cars and people. At home in Washington we hear crows cawing not so wonderfully but we also can hear some smaller sweeter sounding birds…
Hi Miss M! A very Happy Easter Week to you…
April 7, 2009 at 1:18 am |
Hi there K!
Your birds are very beautiful to look at it – but maybe not so fun to listen to.
Our crows have a raucous sound. They have been known to congregate in huge flocks – and at daybreak the caws can be deafening. But not around our house thankfully.
Our other native bird songs are lovely – especially robins. Do you have robins? They are so cheery. They’ve just arrived back for spring.
it’s good to see your name in my reader 🙂
Happy Easter!
April 7, 2009 at 2:45 am |
My ravens sound like this:
[audio src="http://www.shades-of-night.com/aviary/sounds/raven1.wav" /]
But usually only one or two of those “clucks” and then they pause for a bit.