Mystery bird call

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
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Nick Allen
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Mystery bird call

Postby Nick Allen » Sat Apr 22, 2017 8:22 pm

I identified the bird making these sounds as Aus Little Grebe, though wasn't able to see the bird moving its beak (I was observing and recording from a reasonable distance). Comparing it with other recordings online it doesn't really fit.

The recording was made in Nov 2011 at Ormiston Road pond above Waipu where Aus Little Grebes are present, along with wildfowl, crakes (no doubt), NZ Dabchick, and farm birds that I'm not 100% familiar with like Myna and Brown Quail.

Any ideas please?

prob grebe Waipu.mp3 [ 143.63 KiB | Viewed 3761 times ]

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philbattley
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby philbattley » Fri May 26, 2017 11:38 am

Hi Nick,
Just saw this thread and have to say that the call is not familiar to me!
Phil
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David Riddell
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby David Riddell » Sat May 27, 2017 10:29 am

No idea about the bird, but fairly sure the frog is a southern bell frog (Litoria raniformis), which in my experience is much less common in the northern part of the country than the green and gold bell frog (L. aurea) these days.
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Mon Aug 27, 2018 8:45 pm

I just came across this thread and the call is certainly a new one to me. I had a look on nzbirdsonline and there is one there that sounds very similar:
http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species ... ttle-grebe
Exactly the same even! So it is the "whinny call" of an adult Australasian little grebe:)
Olwen
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby Olwen » Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:32 am

Well that doesn't get the situation any further ahead!
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Fri Aug 31, 2018 9:27 am

No? Why?
Olwen
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby Olwen » Mon Sep 03, 2018 11:52 am

Wasn't it the same recording he's talking about?
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Neil Fitzgerald
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Re: Mystery bird call

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:35 pm

Yes, and it's titled "whinny call of an adult Australasian little grebe", so I take it the experts are confident enough of that ID to put it on NZBO. I was really just posting above to note that the mystery has apparently been solved.

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