Expert: Julia Booth - 10/21/2008

Question
Hi Julia,
There is this really annoying bird that starts calling in the middle of the night. Usually starting about 3am, but as early as 1:30am! We have tried to find it but it is well hidden in the huge tree in our garden. It seems to have different calls but is really really loud. We can hear another in the distance. We are near durban in South Africa and it has been spring here for the last month and a half. It first appeared around the beginning of spring. What is it, and will this last year round or will it be (hopefully) just a spring thing.
We do not hear it at all during the day, late at night or early morning - only between 2am-4:30am.

Thanks so much!
Kind Regards
Nicolette

Answer
I am not intimately familiar with the birds of Africa. But it sounds like something of Mockingbird ilk.

Heh -can you kill it? I'm not supposed to recommend you try either. But you're in the US, so the same laws do not apply. I would think shooting some firecrackers off in the vicinity of the tree might even serve as a deterrent. (Have you seen Steel Magnolias?) If you're really desperate, I suppose a BB gun might work.

Some tips that have worked for people in the past in regards to Mockingbirds are: using an owl decoy and making sure all outside lights are turned off at night. Can you get an owl decoy, where you are? Hmm...probably not. You can make a scare crow, which sometimes works. Mockingbirds are attracted to light and tend to hang out by Houses that are well lit or decorated with a lot of chimes and garden decor. Not sure why. But if you're located in a remote area and are the only light for miles around, it would make sense. The same logic might apply to your culprit, whatever he is.

You might want to search for some African birding sites.

Sorry I couldn't help more,

Julia