Weird bird calls

Is that a bird sneezing in the woods? Don’t worry, it hasn’t caught a cold, it’s a marsh tit! This little brown bird has a glossy black cap and a small black bib. It also has a ‘pitchoo’ call that sounds a bit like a sneeze! The call is the easiest way to tell it apart from the very similar willow tit.

Who’s that laughing from the bushes? It’s a pretty thrush with a grey head. It must be a fieldfare! These winter visitors roam the countryside in flocks, looking for berries to eat. They’re very noisy, always talking to each other with their hoarse, laugh-like calls. Or maybe they just find berries really funny?

There’s a new sound on some of Britain’s marshes. Well, actually it’s an old sound making a comeback! Cranes used to be found all over Britain, but they were hunted until there were none left. Thankfully, a few cranes returned to England and now the population is slowly spreading. That means we have the chance to hear their loud, trumpet-like calls as they fly over wetlands.

If you’re really lucky, you might hear another strange sound echoing around a reedbed. A metallic, pinging sound could be the call of a bearded tit. Despite the name, it’s not actually a tit and is sometimes known as the bearded reedling. It’s not really bearded, either. Males look more like they have a big black moustache!

Eiders are beautiful sea ducks, but they have one of the most amusing calls in the country. When males are displaying, they make an excited ‘ooooh’ sound. You’ll sometimes hear flocks of them all calling together, sounding like humans that just heard some juicy gossip.

Water rails are very hard to see, but very easy to hear – they make a lot of noise! When they call, it sounds like a squealing piglet. They like to live in reedbeds and rarely come out in the open. So the next time you’re at a wetland, listen out for pig-like squeals coming from the reeds!