one more what sounds like....

[Siva]

:confused: I was at the Valley Creek Drying Beds today and heard a call that sounded like "kut-trr ..kut-trr..". If anyone has birded in south India, the call was similar to that of a 'large green barbet'. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[betsy]

Couldn't find a recording of the barbet, Siva, so I'm not sure what that sounds like. Did your mystery bird sound like it was in the air, in the trees, on top of shrubs, in the reeds, in the grass -- where? High or low pitched? Different or same notes for the two parts of the call/song?

[Siva]

Thanks for trying Betsy. The call comes from the trees - at VCDB it was from the trees adjoining a pond. I heard the same today at the Cedar Hills SP deeper in the woods. The sound is a bit guttural - the 'trr' part is more like the rolling sound of a pigeon but distinctively louder - the "kut-trr" is repeated two or three times. I will check out some of the tree bird calls on the web and report back if I id it. I am quite a beginner especially with calls!

[betsy]

Siva, try listening to the song and call of a Red-bellied Woodpecker -- it might have been that. You can find them both here -- there are separate links to the song and to the call underneath the photo:

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/redbelliedwoodpecker.htm

[Connie Sandlin]

I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Village Creek on 3/18 and it's certainly the right kind of habitat for this species.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/308/_/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo.aspx

Look for "Listen to Call" on the page and click. I'll be interested to see if this resembles what you heard, Siva.

Connie

[Siva]

Thanks to you both Betsy and Connie. The call was very much like the Yellow-billed Cuckoo's especially the second part (the call minus the ka-ka-ka part).

Siva

[Siva]

:) I did confirm today - I was at the Prairie Creek Park this morning and followed the Red Bellied Woodpecker for a while at close quarters - it was indeed making the thus far mysterious (to me) call!