BirdingNZ.net

Hello all (forum newbie, 40 yr old electrician)

Got a high pitched chip-chip-chip-chip call coming from high up in the night sky, most nights here in the Warkworth area.
It's not a spurwing plover, it's a lot softer than that.

They seem to call to each other, answering from several directions.

Any idea what bird this is?

Maybe look at Cook's Petrel calls? I'd think they'd probably fly over you to roost if you are in Warkworth. NZ Birds Online has some.

Yes, I believe you're correct.

Here are a couple of links to videos i took.... is this your bird? (please have Volume turned up). https://youtu.be/69LRcs9Daq0 and https://youtu.be/Sn_Z3NqvT4c

there was an earlier thread on this sound... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3104

i have puzzled over it for several years. thanks to this forum my curiosity is now satisfied!

Yes I remember the old post from Julia. Cook's Petrels are known to fly over this area at night time particularly during this time of year as they are just at the start of their breeding season. These will be birds breeding on Little and Great Barrier Island

I live in Pukekohe, and working hours are 6AM-4PM, so I get up early, about 3:30, and from about 4:15 or so I take a 3Km walk. For the last couple of months, I hear a very distinctive bird call. I *think* there is only one - at least, I never hear two at once. I never hear the call after sunrise. Of course there are other birds, morepork is obvious, and lots chirping and twittering. This call is flutelike. It consists of two quick notes, then one that is up about a musical fifth (if you know music), a kind of squawk, then down a kind of flat 7th - almost an octave - and then another squawk. If it is one bird, it moves around - not during the same morning walk, but on different mornings - always within the same area about a Kilometre long.

I'm not a birder, really, but this guy has really fascinated me. I suppose, considering the probabilities, it is a tui. I know they can have very variable calls. Maybe it's just its "night call" - I never hear it in daylight. And of course I never see it, because it's dark when I go on my walk.

If anyone has any suggestion, I'd love to hear it. I'll try to record it on my phone one of these mornings.

Later (1/11/20) - I have made a recording. Is there some way to upload the file? Otherwise, if someone will email me jjen009 at gmail I can send the recording.

Hi there...I live in Manurewa auckland and there is a bird that sits in the highest part of a gigantic Norfolk pine and sings a song from 2am till 5am everyday. Its sounds like 2 bursts of gunfire from a weapon on starwars then a short grunt. I have never heard it before the last 6 months or so. It is singing to a mate in a tree in the distance, because I can hear a response. Would love to know what it is.

Hi, it's a tui. They sometimes call at night, and a lot of the Auckland birds have simple one or two-note calls for some reason.