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Every weekend I am awakened by a Woodpecker!!!! He is battering away on the house or the large oak in our front yard. No matter how far he is he sounds like he is right above my pillow. It is the worst sound...no one can sleep through it!
I got woken up early yesterday morning by a woodpecker, and it was definitely pecking away at the house! Between that and my neighbor who started mowing his lawn at 7:50AM on Saturday, no sleeping late for me this weekend!
Mockingbirds will drive you insane - when I lived in Apex there was one who liked to "sing" from the top of my fireplace chimney. The sound travelled down the chimney and it sounded like the bird was in my living room. I work from home, and it drove me bonkers all day long. Luckily no mockingbirds at my current house, although I do have a pretty loud Carolina wren that visits.
Mockingbirds will sing all hours of the night. They sing beautifully, an infinite series of different little tunes, and they will go on for a long time.
I love this time of year - to be awakened by the sounds of a huge bird party every morning. And it is so comforting to me when I wake up in the middle of the night (for whatever reason) to hear a mockingbird singing away outside. It helps me to remember that I'm not alone and that even when I think all others are asleep, there are a few creatures still up willing to keep me company and entertain me!
I think that sometimes the birds get thrown off by streetlights and other lights that are on at night. Maybe that's why some of the mockingbirds sing all night.
It's like the flocks of pigeons that fly all around Times Square all night--they don't know that they should go roost somewhere because all that bright light 24/7 has them not knowing it's night-time!
Hi- Native North Carolinian here. We have a number of birds that sing at night, quite a few actually
Most of them live in the deep woods, which are fast disappearing.(The birds along with them, they require deepbwoods. Even a road through these woods is bad for woodland songbirds, beacause it makes the woods hospitable to predatory birds who eat their eggs, the young offspring (crows eat baby birds), or the birds themselves. Most woodland songbirds are threatened, endangered, and some are now extinct)
One singer, however, does live around people, in cities and suburban woods, (farms, too!) and he is a fine singer! One of my favorites! You we're probably hearing the MOCKINGBIRD. They are fairly common, and love to sing at night in the spring and early summer, through June. They are distinctive in that they will sing for hours, and you'll notice the song changing every 15 seconds or so. They have a repetoire. Sometimes they will "mock" sounds around them, like a farmer who sings while s/he works or a car alarm. Each bird has their own repertoire, though there are regional tendancies, in other wordsn mockingbirds in a region most often mock each other, and so tend to sing a lot of the same little bits.
Personally, I've always thought having a mockingbird hang out in one of your tree tops singing at night is good luck! If nothing else, it makes for a lovely night sleep to be serenaded so! You'll notice mckingbirds in prints of colonial America, in the background, fine wallpaper! They were valued. They probably reminded our native English ancestors of nightingales from home!
What a fun discovery for you! I hope you will discover (and protect) more of our native birds, and maybe one night you will hear our whipperwills, our nighthawks, our bobwhitesn among others!
Woops. I'm new to posting. The above message about the mockingbird was in reference to the -original- post, and not the one directly preceding mine. Thanks!
By the way, mockingbirds don't sing at night because they are confused by streetlights! They are confused by hormones! They sing like that in mating season, to attract females, to mark their territory to other males. They sing in the daytime, too. The ones that sing for hours are simply persistent! We also have countless nocturnal birds here. many nocturnal creatures! Many flowers and other plants are pollinated at night! By moths! Some natve flowers emit a stronger aroma at night, to attract these pollinators! Summertime in North Carolina is alive at night, if you get away from suburban horticulture and such. So many nocturnals things going on!! It is US who is keeping them awake with all our noises during the DAY! I think it is fun to think about. Goodbye summer, for now!
Your answer
Q: What is that bird singing at night? It's driving me crazy!
Male Northern Mockingbirds will sing at night while their mate is sitting on eggs and he usually stops as soon as the eggs hatch. The reason he does this is not fully understood, but it may have to do with pair-bonding and territorial display. The Northern Bobwhite Quail and Eastern Screech Owl may also be heard calling at night but their singing is usually not as persistent or as varied as the mockingbird.
Two other nighttime singers include the Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow; insect-eating members of the goatsucker family of birds that sing to proclaim territory and maintain pair-bonds with a mate.
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Mockingbirds
Wwiw
