COMPARISON OF SPECIES WITH SIMILAR SOUNDSIn this section, calls, songs, and other sounds of selected species are grouped by similarities.
Group 1 - Woodpecker calls (2 tables)
Group 2 - Woodpecker drumming
Group 3 - Species with single "tooting" calls or songs
Group 4 - Species with single-trill calls or songs
Group 5 - Forest squirrels
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Woodpecker species with similar single note calls:
Northern Flicker
a. A single, loud kleeeoo, very sharp, descending in pitch; A loud klee-yer (P); A shrill descending kee-oo (R); A sharp peah, given by adults or young (F).
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
a. A nasal mewing note, or squeal, cheerrr, slurring downward (P); Soft, slurred wheee-ur or mew (U).
Chur or quarr call given in series; also weep-weep notes, chee-aa call, and others (F).
Calls are soft, weak, carry poorly. Sound quality not buzzy, but also not a clear tone, lacking harmonics.
Hairy Woodpecker
a. A loud, sharp peek! (P,R); Not nasal.
Downy Woodpecker
a. A flat pick, not as sharp as Hairy's note (P); Pik, much softer than Hairy's (R); Uttered less often than Hairy's louder, sharper peek (F); A flat tchink or ping (L).
Woodpecker species with similar ratchet-type "whinney" alarm calls:
Hairy Woodpecker
b. A kingfisher-like rattle (L), run together more than that of Downy's (P,R).
Like a pick given in very rapid succession; does not characteristically descend in pitch at end.
Half-second rattle call, keck-ik-ik-ik heard less frequently, 17-20 notes per second (faster than Downy's) (F); A slurred whinny (N).
Downy Woodpecker
b. A rattle, pick-ik-ik-ik-ik-ik, slightly slower than Hairy's, but notes quicken and descend in pitch toward end. Soft and carries poorly for a woodpecker; A high descending rattle or whinny series: ee ee ee ee ee ee (U).
White-Headed Woodpecker
b. Also a rattle similar to Downy Woodpecker's (P); Rattle di-di-di-di, similar to Hairy's (F).
Often a series of witts run together in a kingfisher-like rattle (L).
Group 2 - Woodpecker drumming
Northern Flicker
e. Drumming: Drums rather weakly in regular bursts (F); Constant, rhythmic. Territorial.
Pileated Woodpecker
c. Drumming: loud, slow, softer at end (R); Often with echo quality (S. Harris, pers. comm.). Territorial. The loud singly-spaced bill strokes are distinctive (L).
Acorn Woodpecker
c. Drumming: constant, rhythmic. Territorial.
Lewis' Woodpecker
c. Drumming: drums weakly in breeding season (F). Weak excavator.
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
b. Drumming: not a constant rhythym, but spurts of 3-4 taps with pauses between; starts with a long series, ends with a sequence of short bursts; Soft tap in a broken series: prrrrrp,prrp,prp,prp (U).
Hairy Woodpecker
d. Drumming: Drums frequently but variably; indistinguishable from Downy's except at times by loudness (F), Hairy's being the louder; A very rapid burst of constantly-rhythmic taps.
Downy Woodpecker
d. Drumming: Drums frequently in 1-1 1/2 second bursts, like Hairy but softer; A rapid burst of evenly-rhythmic taps.
White-Headed Woodpecker
c. Drumming: short, even series (U); Drums frequently with typical drum-roll (F).
Group 3 - Species with single "tooting" calls or songs, like the Northern Pygmy-Owl's
Northern Pygmy-Owl
a. A single mellow whistle, hoo, repeated every 1-2 seconds (P). Version 1, version 2.
Northern Saw-Whet Owl
a. A mellow whistled note repeated mechanically in endless succession, often 100-130 times per minute: too,too,too, etc. (P).
Notes all on the same pitch; higher-pitched and faster than Northern Pygmy-Owl's (call "a").
Mountain Quail
b. In spring, a loud, resonant kyork (F); A loud mellow cry, wook? or to-wook? repeated at infrequent intervals by male in breeding season (P); A soft whook like Northern Pygmy-Owl's (R); Mating call, a clear, descending quee-ark, can be heard up to a mile away (N). A loud mellow look or too-look (L).
A repetitive Northern Pygmy-Owl-like hoot; if close actually two notes: too-oo,too-oo; not as monotonously delivered as Pygmy's, given at 4-9 sec. intervals; birds move position during call, Pygmys do not (R. Gutierrez, pers. comm. 1984).
Townsend's Solitaire
a. A sharp eek (P); A single piping note (R); A single metallic keek (L); Bell-like heep. Suggests Northern Pygmy-Owl or Mountain Quail, but "pitch-piped;" weaker, higher pitched than Pygmy-Owl; sometimes repeated at 30-40/min.
Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)
The Douglas Squirrel has several call notes and alarm calls, but one in particular sounds somewhat like the Northern Pygmy-Owl's one-note call. However,the Douglas Squirrel generall calls at a faster rate. Note that the Townsend's Chimpunk has similar call notes as well (see Group 5, below).
Group 4 - Species with single-trill calls or songs, like the Dark-Eyed Junco's
Dark-Eyed Junco
e. Song: a ringing, metallic trill on one pitch (U); Loose, musical trill (P).
Similar to Rufous-Sided Towhee and Chipping Sparrow songs, but more musical; has a very even cadence, like sewing machine; more musical and usually slower than Chipping Sparrow's.
Chipping Sparrow
b. Song: a dry rattle on one pitch (P); An insect-like fast trill, like Dark-Eyed Junco, but faster, "drier," and less musical. Example 1, example 2.
Orange-Crowned Warbler
c. Song a weak, colorless trill, dropping in energy at end. Often changes pitch rising, then dropping (P). Example 1, example 2.
Suggests Dark-eyed Junco song, except for quality of pitch-changing.
Rufous-Sided Towhee
d. Song: descending dry trill (R); Drawn-out, buzzy chweeeeee; sometimes: chup chup chup zeeeeeeeeee (P). Dry trill, often with a single chip discernable at close range; trill trails off at end, like a "sigh:" chptttttttt; varies in speed.
Brown-Headed Cowbird
c. Females: rattling call (U), chattering call (F). A harsh rattle (N).
Bewick's Wren
c. Song: variable, high opening notes, followed by lower burry notes, ending on a thin trill; sometimes suggests Song Sparrow (P).
The Townsend's chipmunk and Douglas' squirrel are among the more commonly encountered or heard species of squirrels in the Douglas-fir and mixed conifer-hardwood forests of the Klamath Mountains. Other local species include the California or beechy ground squirrel, found more often in open fields, and the western gray squirrel, found more often in riparian and lowland hardwood forests. The squeaky contact and alarm calls of squirrels and chipmunks can be confused by the uninitiated with those of the louder songbirds, such as the calls of the black-headed grosbeak.
Townsend's Chipmunk (Eutamias townsendi)
a. Single alarm call, quickly two-syllabled, sometimes repeated many times.
b. A whisky series of somewhat burry alarm notes, strung together into a chatter.
Douglas' Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasi)
a. A repetitive dyoo,dyoo,dyoo,dyoo... often given from a high, stationary perch on a large conifer tree limb. Don't confuse this with some of the songs of the Hutton's Vireo.
b. A flat, repetitive pik,pik,pik,pik. Similar to call a, but each note less descending in pitch.
c. A somewhat buzzy, short series of ascending and descending notes. Usually not repetitive.
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) -- invasive species spreading throughout the West, locally replacing Douglas' squirrels
A dry chattering. Second example (with American Robin singing in the background). Third example.