Various sounds we’ve heard in the field, and in particular a recording we made at a nest, have had me searching through the literature to find a reference giving some context. Because it is sometimes difficult to be sure about which vocalisation is being described, I made a table cross referencing some of the primary sources and how the main sounds are described.
In the paper world, birdsong has traditionally been rendered with phonetic descriptions, often possessing an absurd quality; djill, djill, djill. This is further complicated by how any given sound is pronounced in the language in which the original author was writing.
But we now have access to digital recordings and sonograms and it is possible to be very specific about the various vocalisations and mechanical sounds that the birds make.
Some of these are illustrated with audio clips and sonograms.
Advertising call / song
Copulation
Flight calls / Contact calls: both sexes
Alarm calls
Distraction
Distress
Nesting
Young
Mechanical
Advertising call / Song
| Source | Component 1 | Component 2 | Component 3 | Component 4 | Component 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BWP* | Vibrant, churring trill, tremelo | Faster, lower tremelo | slower units | bubbling trill Given as independent call in variety of situations | djill, djilll, djilll intense sexual excitement |
| Schlegel | Rising and falling errr-orrrrrr-err-orrrrr | quorre, quorre quorre, also suggests djill...djill...djill | strange muted/muffled churring | tjull, tjull, tjull, turrr | |
| Stulcken | (female churring) | muffled churr (as if underwater ) during heterosexual interaction on the ground | |||
| Cleere | bubbling trill | ||||
| Holyoak | sustained long tremelo [says his text based on Wilson in Cramp(BWP)] | Faster, lower pitched tremelo | 'normal ending' to song | ||
| Glutz | errr-orr-errr... | quorre, quorre, quorre | djill, djill, djill or djurr, djurr, djurr in full courtship, is clearer |
||
| Heinroth | (referring to female churring) soft churring from female to call male for nest relief No indication of change of pitch | ||||
| Colloquial | Major phrase | Minor phrase | 'Run-down' Almost always interaction with f, can be other m. | Purring |
Copulation
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | kwik wik wik |
| Cleere | kwik wik wik(f) |
Flight calls / contact calls: both sexes
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | Quaw-eek, kooik, quoik, Keweep, or monosyllabic kweep |
| Stulcken | ruiet, ruiet ruiet |
| Cleere | Co-ic, qwoik, Quaw-eek, |
| Heinroth | quick female never gave call as loudly as male flight call muted/muffled dagh when startled |
| Other references | Leibig: female call muffled, hissing shrait male rhuit |
Alarm calls
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | Female: irregular (speed, pitch, volume) series chuk, chek, doubled check-chk, like pre-roost Blackbird chink, also Blackbird-like dack, chink (m) |
| Schlegel | dack gritt-gritt-gritt |
| Stulcken | dack uok-uok, oak-oak (m/F at nest) |
| Heinroth | warning call: rapid soft dugdugdug often only audible at close range |
| Other references | Wadewitz krittkritt |
| Colloquial | chenk (f) |
Distraction
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | hissing, feline snarling |
| Schlegel | like domestic goose |
| Stulcken | hch, schd(at nest) |
| Cleere | deep guttural sound (f) |
Distress
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | long drawn plaintive not loud ko-iick (Prob m/f) |
| Stulcken | when seeking lost young |
Nesting
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | Low pitched grunting or puffing When brooding, tending, feeding, summoning young Speeded up when brooding, chuffer train wuk wuk wuk (f) |
| Schlegel | wuff-wuff-wuff female on nest |
| Cleere | wuff, schutt(m&f) quack like calls (f) |
| Heinroth | kurr kurr kurr from brooding adult announcing intention to feed |
| Other references | Steinke schut schut schut |
Young
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| BWP* | Soft whispered bruh bruh food call treub treep when separated from sib or parent |
| Schlegel | brruh brruh parent - young interaction |
Mechanical
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Holyoak | 'like quick snapping of dry branch (less often like hand-clap)' |
References:
* S Cramp ‘Birds of The Western Paleartic’, 1985
R Schlegel ‘Die Ziegenmelker’, 1969
K Stulcken ‘Uber die Schachtelbruten eines Nachtswalbenparchens’, 1962
DT Holyoak Nightjars and Their Allies, 2001
UN Glutz von Blotzheim & KM Bauer ‘Handbuch der Vogel Mitteleuropas’, 1980
N Cleere & D Nurney ‘Nightjars’, 1998
O Heinroth ‘Beobachtungen bei der Zucht des Ziegenmelkers’ 1909