Whatbird.com

Alrighty now.......You can start laughing anytime cuz I have a question that will probably make most of the bird experts here cringe but hey....the only dumb question is the one unasked.....KK here goes.....I have lived in Tempe, Arizona in the same house just about my whole life.....(42 years) and since I was just a little kid have heard the same bird song at night during the spring and summer months. I haven't seen the bird in question just heard its song. My mom had told me years ago that its called a Nightengale(?)

My boyfriend and I have heard this same bird song late at night at his house and he insists that I am crazy that it is not a bird but has to be someone playing a joke or a car alarm or some such other nonsense. He is gonna make me nuts until I can prove to him that it IS a bird and that I am not making it up somehow.

So my next to impossible question is....What kind of bird would this be? I can only say that it seems to be nocturnal and has a very sweet song clear and beautiful and sings almost till dawn. I am sorry to have so little for you all to go on ~smiles sheepishly~ 

I have no idea, but I know that northern cardinals are sometimes called virginia nightingales. Sorry I couldn't give you much help. Or could it have been an escaped finch?

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"You can cage a bird, but you cannot make him sing."
Andy

Mockingbirds are known to sing late into the night in summer. I don't think cardinals do. I am not familiar with the avifauna of Arizona, but I believe mockingbirds can be found there. There is no North American bird officially known as a "nightingale." Can you get a recording of the song and post it?

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"I put it down. you gotta pick it up." —Thelonious Monk

Hi---Not a dumb question at all! After all, kind of hard to learn what bird would sing at night in your area if you can't see it to describe it. I live in Tucson and based on experience in my yard, I would almost bet that you're talking about a Northern Mockingbird. Try going to the WhatBird homepage and clicking 'Find my bird', and pulling up the Northern Mockingbird. You'll have an option there of listening to it's song.

Hope that helps! 

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Everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

I would be willing to bet it is a mockingbird. I have heard them at 3 Am. Supposedly those are the single males, trying to get the first song of the day in. I guess the earlier they get out, the better chance of getting a mate!

I'm weighing in on the side of the Northern Mockingbird.  In breeding/nesting season they seem to sing all night.  I have heard people complain about it, but I think it's beautiful!

I love listening to their song while laying in bed. I sometimes count the different songs that they sing.

The people who complain about mockingbirds are the same people who have parties until 3 AM ( noisy ones).

Go figure....

Mockingbird was my first thought too. Had one around here a few years ago. Crazy thing sang all night! 

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Don't cry because it's over, smile because you were there.

Well, I don't know about it being a mockingbird because the original poster didn't mention the song constantly changing (like a mockingbird's would).

I'm going to throw out Whip-poor-will and Common Poorwill just to see if those might be it. I'm thinking that if it isn't a mockingbird then probably the Common Poorwill as I would describe there song as "sweet". The song of the AZ Whip-poor-will is ruff and not like that of the Whip-poor-wills back east, though it still might be that.

You can listen to the Common Poorwill here and the Whip-poor-will here. Just imagine the song of the Whip-poor-will being slower and more burry and you basically have the song of an AZ Whip-poor-will.

Hope this helps!

 

 

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featherbrain

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Life is simple: Eat, Sleep, and BIRD!

"Walk softly and carry a big scope!"

I originally thought Mockingbird because the poster described it as a car alarm, and the Mockingbird does sound sweet and beautiful, not so much clear, though... Poorwills / Whip-Poor-Wills are good candidates as well, after all, they are nocturnal.

The Nightingale, by the way, is an Old World thrush with a beautiful song, and it does mostly sing at night (hence the name).

Wow - this is hard.

I'm not sure what we could rule out at this point - but I think Featherbrain is onto something with the Nighthawk/Whip-poor-will suggestion.

I don't know much about the Mockingbird, nor the Whip-poor-will, but I'm guessing it is one of the two. Sorry - there's really not much I can add at this point.
 

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~Makachoa~

Around here (South Louisiana), the mockers "mock" during the day but sing their own song at night.  The night time song doesn't change too much.  The mostly sing when the moon is bright or it's really hot.

Could the mockingbird be "mocking" a whip poor will? They have been known to even mock car alarms ( the mockers).

Birds can make some strange sounds, I have a blue jay in my backyard that sounds like a crying child and sometimes it sounds like a singer off key...

Unmated male Northern Mockingbirds sing all night. 

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Joseph Morlan
Fall Birding Classes in San Francisco start October 28

In the summer my yard is filled with mockingbirds. They don't seem to sing much at night.  I have heard recordings of the birds singing their own day and  night songs,. The second is slightly different from the first, but you'd have to listen to it yourself.  Featherbrain's suggestion of a whippoorwill is also very likely.  How about an owl, maybe a western screech?

 They make some pretty odd sounds. 

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