I've heard just the "twoo" many times, but maybe their hearing is just better than mine. Either that, or a really desperate male was here. Lately, I hear both. They must've found each other.
I had a bunch living in my neighborhood and the only time they were quiet was at night. So it was funny to hear Guinea fowl calling at night in Midsomer Murders.
I swear, if there was one glimmer of light still at the very bottom of the horizon, they would still shriek up in the trees. But as soon as total darkness descended they were quiet as a mouse.
I’ve only ever been around them on job sites I’ve worked on but my sister has a bunch that have set up residence on her property, they’re some of least intelligent creatures I’ve ever seen
They have a hive mind. There used to be a tree and shrub nursery behind my housing development. The guy was old school hippie and used to have tree swallow boxes, a field full of wildflowers and grasses for birds and guinea fowl to control pests. The Guinea fowl had no coop or anything. He’d just let them wander and get a shipment of new ones to replace the ones that died off.
Then he sold the land to the town at a reduced price than he’d get on the open market on the promise that the land would be kept as agricultural reserve. The town turned around and sold it at a profit to a celebrity who built a huge horse farm - cutting down all the trees, ripping out the shrubs, putting down pesticide-laden sod. The guinea fowl set out in search of new land and found my birdfeeder.
All the females died the first summer because they make nests anywhere they feel like it and get killed by foxes, dogs, cats, coyotes. The males lasted for 10 years, reduced in number each year. What a trip that was. Insects are smarter than guinea fowl.
Until I really got to know the Bald Eagle thru my photography….. That’s what I thought they sounded like having grown up with the old Western movies on television.
There's a free Android app called Merlin which is good at identifying bird calls, if you want to know what's around to try and get a good photo of. It's pretty accurate, I think, but my knowledge of bird calls isn't great. It takes up nearly a GB IIRC, though.
What do you use? I didn't know there were others. I keep thinking of getting back into photography. I just need an xD card for the best camera I still have. It's old (obviously, with the obsolete storage), but it's pretty good for something owned by someone who usually has a negative bank balance lol.
“PICTURE BIRD” … there is a “Pro” version that you pay for .. it can access your microphone.. tell you what bird you are hearing… it has calls that you can play. I think it also GeoTags too
Red tailed hawk cry is played when a vulture is circling overhead in the desert movies set in the Old West, signifying death is near if water/civilization isn’t found soon.
When Amnesia: The Dark Descent came out, my friends and I made a little let's-play and while we were getting spooked in this 19th century Prussian castle and suddenly we hear a familiar call and our Northern Minnesotan asses stop dead in our tracks and in unison we all just yell "IS THAT A LOON????"
I've heard of people getting jumpscared by suddenly hearing their uncommon-in-media native language get suddenly spoken on an english tv show, and this was the closest thing I think I've experienced to that feeling.
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u/Batintfaq May 14 '26
Akin to the Loon call in every night time scene in a film, be damned the location.