Help to ID bird call [SOLVED]

Hi folks, I wonder if anyone can ID this bird call for me?  I am assuming it is a common bird as I have been hearing its call in different locations around Leicester city since August.  A birding friend of mine has suggested a dunnock, but I have heard (and seen) dunnocks calling in my garden and this bird is louder and has a more nasal quality to it.  The recording is not brilliant due to the proximity of a nearby road. The bird was in trees overlooking the River Soar, although I couldn't catch site of it, and I have heard it elsewhere in the city nowhere near a water body. Many thanks, Rob.

  • I forgot to say that BirdNet and Merlin apps failed to ID the call.
  • FCSP said:
    I forgot to say that BirdNet and Merlin apps failed to ID the call.

    I'm not surprised - that sounds like a very busy and noisy road.

    My best guess is the thin "tseep" call of a Robin. Not one you hear all that often. Here's an example.

    Marcin Sołowiej, XC512416. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/512416

    What do you think, could that be it?

  • Hi Tony,

    Many thanks for taking the time to answer.  Initially I thought you might have cracked it, but I looked at the xeno-canto spectrogram and the wave forms are quite different, so now I'm not so sure. See the difference in the two recordings below...

  • When I first heard this I thought it sounded like the Redwings we are hearing going over day and night at the moment, literally 100's of them, but on rereading the post it has been around for some time so that is ruled out.
  • FCSP said:
    See the difference in the two recordings below

    Yes, I can. Not sure what else to suggest. Would the background noise have distorted the recording?

    I've reduced the background noise (using Audacity) and got this.

    You could run this past Birdnet to see if it makes any difference.

    Otherwise you could search xeno-canto for Dunnock calls and take a look at the spectograms to see if they are a better match to your recording.

  • Hi Tony,

    Thanks for cleaning up the audio file and for the suggestion in running it through BirdNet.  Although the revised spectogram isn't the clearest, it still looks a bit different to the xeno canto robin. However, having heard the cleaned up sound file I think your original suggestion is probably correct - it certainly sounds almost identical to the robin call.  Given the number of times I have heard it over the past few months it must be a common bird and I think a robin is the right answer.  I did run through lots of dunnock calls on xeno canto and none sounded as close as your robin suggestion.

    Many thanks again for your time!

    Cheers,

    Rob.

  • Just a quick update with additional information, and to confirm Tony's ID. The call is very likely to be a robin's aerial predator alarm call, e.g. if a kestrel or sparrow hawk is in the area. This British Library page is a good reference: www.bl.uk/.../alarm-and-mobbing-calls

    Thanks once again to Tony and Pete for their contributions.
  • Thanks for the feedback, Rob. The British Libraray website is not one I've used before and it looks very useful. Nice bit of investigative work.
    The "tic" call is one I've heard many times and always recognised it as an alarm call. I hadn't thought of the "tsee" call as being an alarm call as well. I'd always assumed it was a contact call.
    The language of birds is fascinating and much more complicated than us humans realise.