Twice-per-second Bleeping Bird: What's it good for?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Folks,

 

It’s back, the twice-per-second bleeping bird.

 

This bird makes a noise like the “warning sound” of a Japanese truck backing up.

 

Here where I am, this bird began beeping about a week ago. What does it actually look like, because this vocalization is one that is not so easy to locate, and I have never actually seen one.

 

So the question is, do you find the return of this bird a positive thing, and comforting, since it signals the return of the cool season?

 

Also, what is the evolutionary advantage of this weird sound for this particular bird? 

Can it sing?

Or, does it only beep?

 

And, what about its young?

What do the chicks or hatchlings sound like?

Higher-pitched beeps?

 

And why don’t they have these birds in America, because I never heard one singing there when I grew up.

 

I timed the beeps this morning, and this bird beeps at the rate of two beeps per second. How does it know how to beep at exactly this rate?  And, do the beeps ever speed up or slow down?

 

What about if the bird saw a snake approaching its nest, for example?

Would its beep-rate speed up like the beat of the human heart?

 

I don’t find this bird’s beeps annoying in the least.

 

Still, if I had about 20 of these bleeping birds in my yard, all simultaneously bleeping synchronously, a chorus of bleeping, then what?  Have you ever experienced this?

 

Just wondering,

Gamma

 

[georgegeorgia]

I am certain that I won't be "debunking " you but great post thankyou 

[Briggsy]

[advancebooking]

I know the bird OP is talking about. It does have a loud and annoying bleep. 2 at a time. 

[Mike_Hunt]

Is the bird air worthy,  how many DBs are the beeps?

[georgegeorgia]

15 minutes ago, advancebooking said:

I know the bird OP is talking about. It does have a loud and annoying bleep. 2 at a time. 

So I take it your "debunking " him ,would that be right?

[marin]

Seems to me you have what I call a gawu bird, but the real name is here. Sadly two are now near my house as well. Wife can shut them up with a slingshot. 

 

Nature’s Alarm Clock A.k.a That F$%#ing Annoying Bird.

That is the Asian Koel.  If you don’t live in Asia it won’t mean much to you.  If you do then you will probably have heard these birds which are especially vocal during mating season.  And right now it’s the time of year for Koh Chang’s horny Asian Koel population to make their voice heard.

It’s all very nice being woken up by the sound of bird calls when they are of the cute, tweeting variety.  But, it’s an entirely different matter when you have a loud, repetitive  ‘Koo-Ooooo’ at 4am in the morning.  It wouldn’t be so bad if the range of these birds calls was limited to a small area, but it isn’t.  You can hear them from a kilometer away.  ( They are members of the Cuckoo family ) I’ve heard them in the city centre in Bangkok – above traffic noise.

So, you can imagine if you are in quiet surroundings and a lovesick male  suddenly pipes up from a tree outside your room, or from a tree 100 metres away, you won’t be getting much sleep.  Fortunately, the mating season is only a couple of months long – on Koh Chang from mid-December to February. "IamKohChang"

 

[KhunLA]

Personally, I'd much rather hear birds, any birds, than not hearing.  Have resident Koels, and quite enjoy listing to them, and any others.

 

Even a rooster @ 0500 waking me up is a pleasure to hear.  May even get one ourselves when the coup is done 

[Lacessit]

It sounds like my Vios when it is backing up.

 

Be careful, I might reverse the car over you if you ignore it.

[connda]

Beep-beep Beep-beep Beep-beep Beep-beep Beep-beep

A solution! 🐦

[connda]

I ❤️ bird calls.  Yeah, even chickens.

[GammaGlobulin]

20 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Personally, I'd much rather hear birds, any birds, than not hearing.  Have resident Koels, and quite enjoy listing to them, and any others.

 

Even a rooster @ 0500 waking me up is a pleasure to hear.  May even get one ourselves when the coup is done 

 

Here where we are, coups are never done, or so I had been told.

 

[KhunLA]

18 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Here where we are, coups are never done, or so I had been told.

 

Prefer not to share any eggs with any critters running about.  Hard enough to keep the squirrels and bird from munching in the garden.

 

Whole reason for the greenhouse, protect my precious figs.

[GammaGlobulin]

26 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Prefer not to share any eggs with any critters running about.  Hard enough to keep the squirrels and bird from munching in the garden.

 

Whole reason for the greenhouse, protect my precious figs.

 

OK.

Maybe you need a coop instead of a coup, is all I was saying.

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

OK.

Maybe you need a coop instead of a coup, is all I was saying.

 

 

Damn ... brain fart, as think I've spelled it that way a few times already 

 

THANKS

[pgrahmm]

[Dexxter]

On 1/5/2025 at 4:34 PM, Briggsy said:

 

 

 

This sounds exactly like our local pedestrian crossing in Melbourne when it is time to "Walk".

[Classic Ray]

On 1/5/2025 at 1:26 PM, KhunLA said:

Personally, I'd much rather hear birds, any birds, than not hearing.  Have resident Koels, and quite enjoy listing to them, and any others.

 

Even a rooster @ 0500 waking me up is a pleasure to hear.  May even get one ourselves when the coup is done 

And there was me thinking you knew the Government was going to change again!

[ignis]

Are you sure it is a bird ?

 

Maybe look up Frog sounds in Thailand,  

 

The very loud noise I heard in in garden often but could not find the Bird turned out to be a Frog,  

another time had something that sounded like a ships fog horn, also turned out to be a Frog

[Stiddle Mump]

I like the sound of ducks.

 

Ducks can be trained to make music. There was a quacking duck song in the charts a while back. 

[Lazybones]

Would help if the op could post a recording of the sound as,  from what he described, I don't think any of the responses are correct. Except maybe the one who said it may be a frog as we have a frog here that sounds like that. 

[ignis]

the large Gecko “jing-jok” make a lot of Beeping noise, often wakes me up.. there much bigger than the house Gecko and have orange dots all over

 

Alway thought it was some sort of Bird.

 

 

 

[ujayujay]

On 1/5/2025 at 12:21 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks,

 

It’s back, the twice-per-second bleeping bird.

 

This bird makes a noise like the “warning sound” of a Japanese truck backing up.

 

Here where I am, this bird began beeping about a week ago. What does it actually look like, because this vocalization is one that is not so easy to locate, and I have never actually seen one.

 

So the question is, do you find the return of this bird a positive thing, and comforting, since it signals the return of the cool season?

 

Also, what is the evolutionary advantage of this weird sound for this particular bird? 

Can it sing?

Or, does it only beep?

 

And, what about its young?

What do the chicks or hatchlings sound like?

Higher-pitched beeps?

 

And why don’t they have these birds in America, because I never heard one singing there when I grew up.

 

I timed the beeps this morning, and this bird beeps at the rate of two beeps per second. How does it know how to beep at exactly this rate?  And, do the beeps ever speed up or slow down?

 

What about if the bird saw a snake approaching its nest, for example?

Would its beep-rate speed up like the beat of the human heart?

 

I don’t find this bird’s beeps annoying in the least.

 

Still, if I had about 20 of these bleeping birds in my yard, all simultaneously bleeping synchronously, a chorus of bleeping, then what?  Have you ever experienced this?

 

Just wondering,

Gamma

 

No!

[Skeptic7]

On 1/5/2025 at 12:34 PM, Briggsy said:

 

 

My thoughts immediately too...Coppersmith Barbet 👍

[GammaGlobulin]

24 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

My thoughts immediately too...Coppersmith Barbet 👍

 

Sounds about right.

However, just making this sound seems so tiring.

And, it never rests.

 

Should be louder though.

The ones in CM are much louder.

 

[nauseus]

On 1/5/2025 at 12:34 PM, Briggsy said:

 

 

 

He said that without moving his lips  -  gottle a geer - who's a pretty barbet?

 

Nice. Thanks!

[Damrongsak]

Is it this one?

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

Is it this one?

 

 

 

No, not that one.

 

The video is a different bird call, altogether.

 

The Bleeping Bird makes loud BEEPS or HOOTS, at the rate of TWO per SECOND.

 

[Skeptic7]

The volume of a birds call can be dependent on many factors...including the direction of the birds head, distance from the bird, wind direction, etc.

 

From Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology...

 

The primary vocalization is a hollow, monotonous, somewhat metallic tuk tuk tuk, also sometimes transcribed as pohp, took, pok, tuk, or toonk. The notes of the barbet's primary song are 70–90 milliseconds long, and generally occur between 700–800 Hz in frequency. The notes of the first song (at 700–800 Hz) are repeated with about a 500 ms gap between notes (49). Calls may be repeated 108-121 times per minute, with bouts being as long as 204 notes continuously. 

[GammaGlobulin]

3 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Calls may be repeated 108-121 times per minute,

 

The bird here, by my measurement, was 115 per minute.

But, he might have been having an off day.

Sure he could do 121, if he tried.