Birds!!!

I would like to ask those of you who have knowledge about birds, and their defining characteristics, a question about what is going on where I live right now.

I live in Knoxville Tennessee, USA area and noticed yeasterday, while smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving, that the bird population is quite large for this time of the season. There are generally birds around here in most parts of the year, but not in massive numbers and without any strange behavior.

I am sitting in my study, watching a couple college football games. The TV in this room is a 55" LED that produces a lot of heat, relative to this room's size. The heat from the TV forces me to open a window to help cool the room.

I hadn't really been overwhelmed by the chirping birds, they were more of a white noise that I had gotten used to - kind of like a clock ticking, after hearing it for a while it kinda blends into the environment.

While watching the game, I opened my laptop and began to melt my mind here on ATS. I opened a thread and paused the game, so I could concentrate on the thread and not miss the game...

As soon as I paused the TV, I noticed how invasive the bird's noise had become.

It was not so much a flock of birds chirping super loud, or a number of birds close to the window making a lot of noise. It was much stranger than that.

The bird chirps seem to be coming from everywhere, they were different intensities, different tones, and different heights in the trees. The birds, with little doubt, numbered in many thousands.

The way I explained it to myself is like this; imagine looking at a picture of the universe, one of those very high resolution images that capture millions of stars. Now imagine that each one of those stars is an individual bird chirp, each happening at nearlye the same time, over an over again. The brighter stars would be louder chirps, smaller stars : softer chirps, and so on.

I've seen tons of pictures detailing thousands of flocking birds and videos that explain how birds make those split second flight path deviations, but I have never learned about the characteristics of a bird's, or a flock of birds', whistles.

Although I thought hearing such a huge number of birds chirping was peculiar for this area, I didn't find it strange enough to open a thread on... that changed when i heard something I had never ever heard before, here or anywhere else in the world.

The birds continued chirping at a very loud, very steady rate, but that changed quickly.

If you have never been in the akward situation I'm about to describe, chances are you know someone who has been, or you've seen it played out in a comedy skit... In a loud room, you find yourself in a somewhat inappropriate conversation. As you're saying something damning - a curse word, etc - the room instantly goes quiet, and your embarrassing shouts are heard by all.

The birds continued to chirp constantly, then, instantly, every single bird chirp stopped without any apparent reason. Their chirps literally stopped instantly and simultaneously - all their chirps.

There was no other loud noise, like a gun-shot or a loud vehicle, that may have spooked them. Instantly, after several seconds of complete silence, all the birds began to chirp again. Instantly, their whistles returned to the same expanse and audible instensity found prior to the silence.

It was so strange and the sudden silence really accentuated just how loud the birds had been chirping - it was so loud that it left my ears ringing in the sudden silence.

They began chirping again for several minutes, then, just as in the first silencing, their chirps ceased instantly. This time offered no explanation to why they stopped chirping.

This has been going on for several hours - based on when I first heard them, though it may have been going on for some time before it was recognized. The birds chirp for several minutes, then they stop, instantly...

I am not sure if this is common. I don't recall hearing it any other time in my life and I have lived in this area since birth. It may be more than a natural anomaly, especially when considering most birds are gone from the area at this point in the season.

I've tried to record the sounds, but it is not picking up. I will keep trying, as long as they keep whistling... I wonder how long they will do this?

Any of you all know why the birds are doing this, or if it's common and I have simply over-looked it? I just can't imagine I have never heard this any time in my life, before now....

I'll post the time when they stop doing this....

Hi there, perhaps these guys can help you out......................

www.tnbirds.org...

People who study reverse speech tell us and provide examples of animals speaking in reverse, in the language of the people who speak forward. The software is available to anyone free. If you cannot cope with weirdness, then stop reading now. When children are born, they speak in reverse and I have heard many examples of this. At about one year old, humans switch from reverse to forward, for some in explicable reason. No one can lie in reverse speech and adepts at the practice have revealed many jaw dropping reversals of many celebrities. I assure you that the front line explanations and so called reality, is completely out of touch with what is actually happening. Animals can detect many things that humans cannot. The constraint of our five senses is humorous because most of what happens, is undetected by us.

I don't know if this is all that weird or strange or anything, but it's relevant because my wife and I had been talking about birds lately. I live in northern WI and we just moved into a new house several months ago. I live on the edge of town and face several large farm fields, so this is the first time I had seen anything like this because I always lived in town or previous to that in the woods, but, for several weeks now the fields have been the landing zone for an overnight stay for thousands of birds every night and in the morning they hang out for a couple of hours and then they are gone. It's pretty cool, but the only part we thought was strange is how late in the season these birds are still migrating south. Maybe it's not strange, I don't know. If anyone else lives way up north, maybe they know how late these birds continue to fly through. I live halfway between Eau Claire and Duluth.

Could be as simple as the birds are adapting to climate change and adjusting there migratory patterns.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2012) — Birds in eastern North America are picking up the pace along their yearly migratory paths. The reason, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers, is rising temperatures due to climate change.

www.sciencedaily.com...

Migration time accounts for extra bird population.

The behavior sounds like predator warnings to me. Next time, look for predators - look UP.

reply to post by esteay812


i knew what you were going to say before you even got to the silence part.. because the exact same thing happened to me last month.. my neighbor's walnut tree was full birds in the hundreds the sound was so incessant that i went to close the window and that is the moment the birds stopped. What was a huge chorus of birds to the point of annoyance ceased yet not one of them moved or got out of the tree.. it was the eariest thing.. so much so i texted a friend and asked about it. Then the birds started back up and dropping the walnuts all over my house.. it literally sounded like a bombardment of walnuts bouncing off the roof , off the windows.. i was really quite annoyed so I went outside... and i swear to god they all just flew away like nothing was wrong.. freaky eh?

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
Migration time accounts for extra bird population.

The behavior sounds like predator warnings to me. Next time, look for predators - look UP.

Sounds like a predator was in the area and the birds were issuing a general "stand to"

I can tell by the sounds of the birds around my house if my neighbors cat is visiting our garden.

reply to post by seabhac-rua


Exactly! Also, hawks and other bird of prey.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


you guys really didn't understand... that is normal bird behavior i have witnessed that many times.. this is not that.. this was some odd weirdness and I know what the op is talking about only because i witnessed it myself in october if I hadn't I too would have thought as you do... but these birds were not making noise to scare a predator.. and they didn't automatically cut off all sound because of a predator.. i can't really define what it was.. because it was so.. weird.

reply to post by gnosticagnostic


We were discussing the OP's story, not your story which came later.

Your story is what I'd call the "flock party" as I've seen cedar waxwings noisily consuming every mulberry on a mulberry tree while the tree RAINED purple bird poo. I've seen many other large flocks of various types, invading a favourite food tree. Flock Party

Sounds like walnut harvesting may be easy at your house, with a little help from the flock parties.

I don't know about birds, but I thought I'd chime in about how they seem to be acting strangely around here too, not so much the chirping, but their behaviour. I've been driving for about 6 years, and have NEVER head an accident, but about 2-3 months ago I had a bird fly into my windscreen, and since then its daily near misses - we call them suicidal birds, because they seem like they are honestly trying to fly right into the car! Strange. Reminds me of the beginning of that movie "the core" shocking film though.

Originally posted by gnosticagnostic
reply to post by Trexter Ziam

 

you guys really didn't understand... that is normal bird behavior i have witnessed that many times.. this is not that.. this was some odd weirdness and I know what the op is talking about only because i witnessed it myself in october if I hadn't I too would have thought as you do... but these birds were not making noise to scare a predator.. and they didn't automatically cut off all sound because of a predator.. i can't really define what it was.. because it was so.. weird.

Bird behavior is complex and not deeply understood.

Birds don't make noises to scare a predator, they sound an alarm to others, sometimes the alarm is not loud but of a certain pitch. I've studied birds all my life, and I can recognize the alarm calls of quite a few species, but most people wouldn't be able to discern the difference between an alarm call and other calls.

Your story seems like normal behavior to me, you went to the window, some of the birds saw you and stopped their social chattering. A lot of birds that gather in large social groups are noisy, and they also are very in tune with their peers, when one stops chirping they all do, similarly when one takes flight so do they all, these reactions are very quick and would seem uncanny to a human. (Remember, most birds live their lives with very high metabolic rates and reaction time for them is life or death, especially when their main enemies are other birds. Have you ever seen a hawk hunting? if you have you will understand what speed and reflexes are all about!) When you walked outside you posed, in the minds of the birds, a real threat and they all took flight. Nothing weird at all.

The weather has been a bit "crazy" this year. Maybe it's affected their migratory pattern? This cold snap that's supposed to hit this weekend should wreak havoc with them in a desparate attempt to fly south for the winter. It's not been so bad lately, so they put it off a bit too long perhaps.

reply to post by rollsthepaul


im curious, do you happen to know the name of the software
or where a link is?

could be fun to play with.

Everyone is going to believe what they want to believe... i've lived here 5 years under the same walnut tree.. yes every year the birds come but this was different. I can't really explain how it was different but the sound was as if hundreds if not thousands of birds were in the tree.. flock parties i've seen, and yes a few walnuts hit the house but this was crazy ten fold times normal.. and that all there is to say about it.. so I understand why the OP thinks it was weird too...

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


or look for the Bipedal predator dipping a large bird into boiling oil?



I know that some migratory birds have begun to stay-put, due to the heat-island effect of Towns, cities, asphalt and concrete. And the year round availability of food. Maybe some are taking queue from the ones that ordinarily stick around. In the Fall and winter, there aren't as many leaves on the trees to absorb sound.This might account for the sense of there being more birds.

Or maybe not...Just making a guess.

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
The weather has been a bit "crazy" this year. Maybe it's affected their migratory pattern? This cold snap that's supposed to hit this weekend should wreak havoc with them in a desparate attempt to fly south for the winter. It's not been so bad lately, so they put it off a bit too long perhaps.

That's what I was figuring. A late migration because of the warm year we had and it's still been warm right up to Thanksgiving night. We also got an inch or two of snow that same night. I haven't seen the birds since the white stuff is covering the field

Do we know what kind of birds these are. I'm getting the sense that we are building up to another black bird die off just like what happened in New Years of 2011 & 2012. The odd behavior could be due to some sort of fluxuating energy field. Are there high tension power lines in your area? Or satellite, microwave, or cellphone towers near by? It's hard to tell what the effects electro-magnetic fields have on wildlife. May explain some of the behavior. Still, I would watch for a major die off around New Years, just like in 2011 & 2012.

Well, surprised no one has mentioned this quake yet.

3.0 Sevierville TN

There was a smaller one prior. I just thought that could be added to the suggestion pile. As it is the first thing that comes to mind when birds are freaking out for no apparent reason. I used to extensively study birds when I was younger and I have gotten to know the normal communal type stuff vs. weird bad weather or such.

This morning early, it was still pitch dark and dead silent. I heard a bird twittering out a bit in the nearby fruit trees outside my place. I didn't care to hear it much since that happens before quakes. Now that is my personal observation and behavior pattern at my location. Others may not have the same situation but I do know its happened more than once.

Also this morning the crows were freaking out. Couldn't tell if it was normal morning heckling and fussing or what but it was noticeable. I live on the east coast of Virginia by the way.