Any birders here?

[efhmc]

Trying to id a bird which is making a sound like water gurgling back into a pipe, very liquid sounding. Just spent about 2 hours of my life on line listening to bird calls and am finding nothing even faintly like what I have heard. I have heard this bird but have not seen it.

[TEXASYANKEE]

1. Where are you?

What part of the state are you in? I'm a birder, but better by eye than by ear. Tell me where you are, and what habitat you heard the bird in, and I'll send the info to my birding buddies.

What part of the state are you in
What time of day did you hear the bird
What habitat was the bird in
On the ground, in the bushes, high in the trees
Was the sound static or did the bird move around

Is it possible for you to record the sound and send it to me?

[efhmc]

4. Thanks for trying to help. I will try to answer your questions.

McCulloch county, central Texas. The habitat is a fenced in yard surrounded by miles of ranch country which is pretty typical hill country with live oaks, cedar, mesquite, p pear, etc. Not sure of the time but think afternoon. The yard has a pond and bird feeder so get lots of birds there and the other usual common stuff: barn swallows, mockingbirds, cardinals, wrens, tits, sapsuckers, etc. I did not hear the bird when I was there last week but keep an ear out tomorrow when I go. Thanks again for taking some time to help.

[jonathan_seer]

2. look for a big black bird around when you hear that sound - it's a male grackle - a type of crow.

I'm in Killeen, Tx, and the neighborhood is full of them.

I knew exactly what you were describing even though to me it also sounds like a bird loudly bathing in a bird bath splashing and sloshing.

Luckily I saw the bird the first time I heard the sound, and the ones around here regularly make that sound while I'm watching them.

They have a variety of calls, but that one is so different from all the rest. They seem to do it as a "winding things up" call and right after doing it a time or two they fly off.

Perhaps that's why you haven't spotted them doing it?

When I first heard that sound, I too spent several hours trying to figure why that bird made such a sound.

Originally I thought it was a learned sound, because it was so unbird like(like some birds learn to talk).

I figured they were imitating some sort of machinery used to pump water. LOL

The males are about 2-3x the size of females. Females are also a different color - a sort of brown-grey.

The males are an iridescent black.

They're so different, they look totally unrelated. Mating time gives them away, as you'll see this enormous black bird trying to put the moves on a small brown-grey bird.

I think they can raid other bird's nests and you'll see them being pursued by mockingbirds, blue jays Etc.

They are extremely smart. If you spot one, try talking to it, and you'll notice it pays attn. like few animals do.

[NoPasaran]

3. The most important thing to remember about grackles...

Don't stand underneath them.

[MicaelS]

6. Boy that is no joke....

I saw a car that had been sitting under a tree with a bunch of grackles roosting in it. It had droppings on it the size of quarters, I kid you not.

[efhmc]

5. Thanks for your help. I don't think I have ever seen a grackle

there. The sounds I usually hear from them is that horrid screech. Can those nasty things really make that delicate, really quite lovely sound?