Strange Bird !

07/28/2009 - 08:24

Every summer we hear a bird which so far no one has managed to identify. It has a very odd call...... clackety Clack, clackety clack.over and over again.We never see it only hear it. It often calls in the early hours of the morning too.�� Can anyone identify this bird.��

Location

Macerata Province

Marche

Comment

Gail there is a Wildlife group for your strange bird tales.!I would say that this bird is almost certainly a Sardinian Warbler or Occhiocotto (cooked eye) in ��.This is a common bird that does migrate but also in some areas overwinters .It is a very excitable species and makes the noise you describe when it sees a cat , snake, bird of prey etc. Like most birds in Italy they ( wisely) skulk around in the undergrowth so are quite difficult to see. Wrens make a similar noise but they are much easier to see.

A woodpecker?These birds make a similar noise when in flight,usually between trees

Thank you both. I have checked out the calls on a couple of bird sites and the don't seem to match, there is no melody to this strange birds call. Just a repetative loud clackety clack ?��Some friends have suggested it is another animal, like a frog, but I know what the frogs and toads sound like around here...... very noisy��

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Thats the strangest magpie I have ever heard.Does it have an american accent or what?�� There are lots of magpies around my house and they have a much harsher sound

Sorry not these. It literally sounds like two stones being knocked together, but not the Stone Chat,�� I have checked that.

It literally sounds like two stones being knocked together,��.��Perhaps its just that - a local scaring the birds away as he goes out to work in the morning

Two stone clicking could be a Warbler alarm call and as someone has already said it is most lightly Sardian or Blackcap. Check those out.��Mark

No. Sorry, definately not these !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!��

Very hard to spot, but you can certainly hear them!

I'm going to try and get a recording of Mr Clackety Clack for you all. Will keep you posted.��

Could it be a sparrer?? Or lots of them?

Not that either. ��Much slower, clack...ety.. cl...a...ck�� Clack...ety cla...ck . Has anyone else heard this ? ��THINK I AM GOING TO DRIVE EVERYONE NUTS WITH THIS QUESTION!!!!

I think we are way passed that already. Has anyone had Ostrich yet?

Can't wait to hear the recording!Maybe we should donate £2 to the Abruzzo Earthquake Appeal for every wrong guess?

��Silly you.�� It's not a bird at all.�� It's your next door neighbour's child reading a book by Luana Rinaldo.��Don't believe me - then google Clackety Clack.

Listen to both Sardinian warbler calls here as they do have a melodious as well as an alarm call!Otherwise it could just be a Jay but these are very easy to see as opposed to the Sardinian Warbler!��

Can you record the call ?And put it on you tube?I've downloaded a picture of a Sardinian warbler in my photo gallery!

Not heard it for a couple of days. Will try,

Ciao Gail, lots of good ideas ,do hope the mystery will be solved,I thought it may be a quail, as syllables seemed to fit, as call is heard as��"wet your lips, wet your lips", but then you said its like two stones clacking.Could it possibly be a blackcap, ours get very raucous when they see our cats !I'll watch out for recording.