Willie Wagtails calling at night
Willie Wagtail
I recently had a comment from a reader about Willie Wagtails calling at night. This reader and his wife were constantly being woken at night by the loud calling of a Willie Wagtail in the tree outside their bedroom window. It seems that this was driving them crazy and wanted to know if I’d heard of this happening before, and what can be done about it.
Nocturnal Song
This calling is known as the bird’s nocturnal song. Other Australian species, like the Magpie, also call nocturnally. It is a widespread and commonly observed action and is well documented in the literature and from studies of these species. There is quite a lengthy discussion on this in HANZAB (Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds) which forms the basis of what I have to say on this matter.
Moonlit nights
The nocturnal call of the Willie Wagtail is most commonly heard during moonlit nights and especially during the breeding season (August to February). From my own experience, the presence of a bright street light or car park lighting can also contribute to this phenomenon. Once started, the song can continue for lengthy periods, often stimulating other birds nearby to also call.
Reasons
It is thought that the nocturnal song in Willie Wagtails is used to maintain its territory. During the night there is no need for parental duties such as feeding the young or protecting the nest, so the song can be used to consolidate the territory. Sound tends to carry further at night and there are fewer sounds in competition and this adds to its effectiveness. It has been found that most nocturnal songs are from a roosting bird some distance away from the nest.
Solutions
Unfortunately for my reader there is no easy solution I know of for this problem. Moving to sleep in a room in a different part of the house may minimise the impact of the noise. Double glazed glass and better insulation may also help. Wearing ear plugs is another possible way out.
A change of attitude might help too. If a native bird is calling outside my bedroom window at 2am in the morning I can respond in several ways. I can get very agitated and annoyed and consequently will have a restless night. I could also take a more phlegmatic view and ignore it, not letting it get to me. I take the same approach when sleeping in an unfamiliar setting with plenty of traffic noise. One soon learns - by choice - to block out the noise, becoming accustomed to it. Or I can delight in the fact that this lovely little creature chooses to reside in MY garden. This positive feeling allows one to relax and get back to sleep.
Annoying ravens
My last suggestion didn’t work for us last summer. We had a Little Raven that would come at first light every morning and bang his thick, strong beak at his reflection in the glass of our bedroom window, calling raucously as he “attacked” this interloper. Being woken by such a noise about a metre from one’s sleeping head is not nice. Not nice at all. We were pleased when it stopped after about a month.
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments #4: Willie Wagtails
Blog Entries
January 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I just love the sound of the Willie Wagtails calling at night. Long may they do so!
January 30th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
So do I Brenton - except when it is too close to the bedroom window or it goes on for too many hours!
January 30th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Willie Wagtail and Boobook Owl calls at night are some of my happy childhood memories!
January 30th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
So John - you can remember back that far???
I’ve just checked my database of bird records - it has been over 20 years since we’ve recorded the Boobook here at home, though it is present throughout the area. We love hearing it when we stay at our daughter’s home in Clare in the mid-north.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
thank you very much for the information and glad i inspired you to write the article, yes we found a solution,earplugs,but now being the end of januari(end of breeding seazon)the willy wagtail has seem to moved on.The NOT knowing why he did it or WHY was frustrating,so by knowing know the why it does make a difference…anyway keep up the good work. ps. now (as we called him)twiggie has moved on ironically my first born son keeps me awake,…but at least i know the “why”. Onces again thanks a lot and well done. regards also from my wife.
Tom and Lorena
January 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
ooh and by the way, your right, the tree the Willy wagtail was in is only 3 meters away from the streetlight. So i can almost with certainty say, or you can look more into it, that the WW thinks the streetlight is the full moon?…
January 31st, 2008 at 10:02 pm
*anecdote alert* It seems to have been a bumper season for willie wagtails here. I suspect it’s down to the huge number of flies this summer. The birds are living like kings!
February 1st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Snail - only yesterday my wife commented that this summer has seen few flies thus far (try saying that last few words quickly with lips pursed to keep out the fries) over our way.
May it remain so - perhaps they have all migrated from this “backwater”* state to somewhere more salubrious!
(* the cheek of your premier a few days ago to call our capital a “backwater.”)
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Mind you, the biggest swarms of flies I’ve seen so far were between Portland and the border but I can’t remember if they were heading east or west!
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Bother - I must have missed the segment of the programme. Our local boys Matthew and David cause plenty of political rumbles here in SA. It has got to the point where Premier Rann refuses to go on their programme - they are like a dog with a juicy bone - just try taking it from them though. They are often quoted in the other media - and even in parliament. They challenge many things - and sometimes get great results.
What is more - they are incredibly funny (read silly) at times. I usually only catch small segments of the show - haven’t got the time to listen to 3.5 hours of radio every day.