Previously I posted some incredibly difficult and obscure bird sounds (see post here). But I thought maybe we should also do some easier ones. The 15 below can be considered “Beginner Bird Calls” – all birds that are loud, widespread and have simple, distinctive sounds (with one exception). Let me know how you do.
First try to listen to the clip without look at the flip box clue. And don’t accidentally reveal the answer beforehand!
By the way, you are welcome to save these sounds and use them for ringtones or whatever.
Mystery Call No. 1
Let’s start with this one. I recorded this in a garden in Pretoria.
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CRESTED BARBET / KUIFKOPHOUTKAPPER
Mystery Call No. 2
This is a small flock flying above bushveld on Justin’s farm near Nyslvley.
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EUROPEAN BEE-EATER / EUROPESE BYVRETER
Mystery Call No. 3
A bird calling from moist woodland near Naboomspruit. Later in the clip it is joined by its mate.
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SOUTHERN BOUBOU / SUIDELIKE WATERFISKAAL
Mystery Call No. 4
I recorded this tiny bird at the foot of Brandberg in central Namibia. It makes some really funny sounds.
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GREY-BACKED CAMAROPTERA / GRYSRUGKWÊKWÊVOËL
Mystery Call No. 5
Such a nice sound! A few of these birds started calling while we were enjoying sundowners next to a dam in the Lowveld.
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WATER THICK-KNEE / WATERDIKKOP
Mystery Call No. 6
I found this bird perched on a dead tree in the foothills of the Drakensberg in KZN. You can hear an angry Southern Black Tit in the background.
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DIEDERIK CUCKOO / DIEDERIKKIE
Mystery Call No. 7
I recorded the calls of this flock on the shore of Vaalkop Dam in North West Province.
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WHITE-FACED WHISTLING DUCK / NONNETJIE-EEND
Mystery Call No. 8
I found this guy calling in a densely vegetated valley in the southern Drakensberg on night.
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BUFF-SPOTTED FLUFFTAIL / GEVLEKTE VLEIKUIKEN
Mystery Call No. 9
A family party of these were working their way through the tops of tall woodland trees near the Crocodile River in Kruger National Park.
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GREY GO-AWAY-BIRD / KWÊVOËL
Mystery Call No. 10
This guy was calling for hours on the edge of the campsite at Grootvadersbosch in the Western Cape.
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SOMBRE GREENBUL / GEWONE WILLIE
Mystery Call No. 11
These things call almost right through the night from their sleeping trees outside my office in Langebaan.
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HELMETED GUINEAFOWL / GEWONE TARENTAAL
Mystery Call No. 12
You cannot escape this sound anywhere in SA – especially early in the morning.
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HADEDA IBIS / HADEDA
Mystery Call No. 13
I found this bird while walking on a small trail in Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria.
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BROWN-HOODED KINGFISHER / BRUINKOPVISVANGER
Mystery Call No. 14
I recorded this one night in the Bushveld when Justin overestimated the amount of fuel left in the bakkie. We ended up walking home, but did manage to find these birds.
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SOUTHERN WHITE-FACED OWL / WITWANGUIL
Mystery Call No. 15
This bird was calling in tall trees lining the Crocodile River in southern Kruger National Park.
Hi Faansie, I’m very excited to have found your blog and your book for kids. My son (age 7) is so into all things nature and knows all the mammals already. I’m trying to get him to learn the different birds and their sounds. I’ve been looking all over for an app that kids can play with to get to know the different bird sounds – similar to the above clips but in app form. I think it would be a great hit. If you can have the sound and let the child guess which bird’s picture fits with the sound and then have English and Afrikaans name of the bird with some basic facts. Please won’t you think about developing something like this? Thanks for the great work! Nadia
Hi Nadia – Thanks for the comment. I think that’s a wonderful idea, and I have something along those lines in mind already. Will see how things develop this year. Games are the best way to learn – take the Duolingo language app for example. Faansie
Please can you let me know how I can buy the bird calls
Hi Lesley – I am working on editing a collection of bird calls at the moment, but they are not quite ready yet. In the meantime, you can try one of the birding apps, like the Roberts or Sasol apps. They include bird calls. Otherwise, I can highly recommend that you visit xeno-canto. This site (and some others) is where birders share their recordings. You can download them for personal use, free of cost. F
Hello Faansie
Thank you so much for your lovely site. I’m far away from home in England, and you transported me swiftly back like nothing else could!
I’m so homesick for all my favourite voëltjies.
Hi Christine / Vleiloerie – Glad to hear the site could remind you of your feathered family that miss you here in SA. Hopefully you’ll start seeing some familiar friends in the next month or two as the migrants start arriving up north. F
Hi Faansie.
You made me realize I know more birdcalls than birds. Next is to put call to a “face” to a name. I have just bought a CD of 60 bird calls from Take a lot for my son Jeremiah who is 8 and is teaching me birds now.
https://www.takealot.com/product/PLID35275989
We got into calls after a breeding pair of striped kingfishers started their regular duet a few weeks ago in Ubombo where we work/live. We in the end identified them by their call and their raising and lowering their wings as they do so.
P.S. our kids teacher showed them your book. It was such a hit.
Hi Patrick. That’s wonderful! And I’m jealous of your resident Striped Kingfishers; they are such cute and animated birds.
Hi Faansie. What an amazing book you have created!!! My kids (12 and 10) were birding before they got your book, but your book has been a game changer for them. Their enthusiasm for birding has multiplied ten fold. That are asking us every weekend where we can take them birding, and their afternoons after school are now spent in the garden with their bins and bird books, competing with their cousins to see whose scores are the highest. My father in law (A beginner birder) came with on a birding trip the other day and now wants your bird book too!! So it is loved by kids of all ages. I really cannot commend you enough for making birding so much fun and so interesting for kids. Thank you.
That’s wonderful to read Maxine! Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
Dear Faansie I am typing on my dad’s phone. I have loved birding for two years now.My uncle also likes birds.His name is Eric Smith. I have also got FAANSIE’S BIRDBOOK. I have seen so many lifers with your fantastic book that I don’t know where to start!l will tell you one of them.Knysna Warbler. I have also moved to the Western Cape from Pretoria!!!from Joshua Lenhard
Hi Joshua – thanks for writing to me, and so glad to hear that the book has helped you find some lifers. Knysna Warbler is one my favourites, it’s got such a magical call. Hope you enjoy the Western Cape! F
Hi
So please to fund you. Wish you could create Bird call Shazam for us new birders….
Haha Nicolette. Yes, there has been a lot of progress in AI bird call recognition. Will be interesting to see what the future brings!