The Barking Owl is named for its harsh 'barking' call but can also make a much louder, wailing cry, which has given rise to another name, the 'screaming-woman bird'.
Calls. Barn Owls don't hoot the way most owls do; instead, they make a long, harsh scream that lasts about 2 seconds. It's made mostly by the male, who often calls repeatedly from the air.
The bush stone-curlew is probably heard more than it is seen. Its call sounds like a wail or a scream in the night. When scared, it screeches – a sound similar to the screech of a possum. A field report from Brookton, Western Australia, noted that their call was heard in response to the cry of possums shot by hunters.
Wild birds use vocalisation to warn others in the group about impending danger, such as a predator in the area. If a pet bird is afraid, it will do the same thing. Birds who find themselves away from the flock call to the group and find their way back when the group answers.
Australian Owlet-nightjars make a variety of sounds, the most commonly heard calls include a series of soft churring notes. The calls of this species are one of the most commonly heard sounds of the Australian bush at night.
Laughing kookaburra
This nostalgic Australian icon can be found in open forests across the country, particularly in gumtrees, and are often heard in suburbs around the Adelaide Hills. Its loud cackle of 'koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa' is often sung in a chorus with other kookaburras.
Sooty Owls
The Greater Sooty Owl is native to the south-eastern forests of Australia and is nocturnal, spending its days in tree hollows, caves and under rock overhangs. Its typical call is known as a 'falling bomb whistle', a short, descending screech or shriek that can be heard over long distances.
Danger. The night chirps of birds can be a warning signal as they have a swift danger sensing ability. Most of the time, when the birds shift their places, they feel fearful of the surroundings, which also results in high tone noise levels at night to stay alert or to seek help from fellow birds.
Birds chirp at night to call for potential mates and defend their territory, especially in the spring (since that's breeding season). Migrating birds maintain communication during the night by chirping at each other.
Perhaps the most famous example of a Superb lyrebird crying like a baby is Echo, who lives at the Taronga Zoo in New South Wales, Australia. When you hear Echo crying, there is absolutely no question: that sounds exactly like the wail of a screaming infant!
Calls. Cedar Waxwings have two common calls: a high-pitched, trilled bzeee and a sighing whistle, about a half-second long, often rising in pitch at the beginning.
The Northern Mockingbird is typically the culprit in these all-night song marathons. Mockingbirds that sing all night long tend to be young, still-unattached males or older males who have lost their mate, and so the best way to shut him up is to entice a female mockingbird to your yard, too.
The Double-crested Cormorant makes deep, guttural grunts that sound a bit like an oinking pig. They grunt when taking off or landing, or during mating or aggressive displays, but otherwise are generally silent.
Brazilian Hummingbird Makes the Highest-Pitched Call Of Any Bird.
If you hear a startling scream in the swamp at night, chances are it's a limpkin. At least, we hope it's a limpkin. These uncommon wetland birds are found in Florida and parts of Central and South America.
Katydids and crickets are excellent examples of nighttime noise-making insects. These insects, which belong to the same Order (Orthoptera) make noises in similar ways: by rubbing their wings together. These insects usually make their high pitched chirping noise at night to attract mates or to warn off predators.
Why do birds sing so early? Early mornings are too dark to search for food, and too dark to be spotted by predators. That makes it the perfect time to sing. As there is less background noise and the air is so still, sound carries around 20 times further than it would later in the day.
Why do birds sing at night? Some species, like the Eastern Whip-poor-will, are nocturnal and only communicate after dark because that's when they're awake. Others, like Northern Mockingbirds, are typically active during the day but will vocalize into the night when searching for mates.
Sometimes birds chirp at night because they are quite simply confused. With towns and cities expanding all the time, streetlights and light pollution can affect birds sleeping habits. Some birds such as robins and thrushes can be fooled in to thinking that it is dusk, when it is in fact the middle of the night.
What is Night Fright in Birds? Night fright is any sort of disturbance that causes a bird to suddenly become spooked or unnerved in the dark or on a quiet night. Birds may fluff up their feathers, widen their eyes, fall off their perch, thrash around the floor cage, and hit their toys and perches.
Australian Magpie Mimics Sound of Emergency Sirens.
According to David Attenborough, in this archive clip from the 1998 BBC documentary series The Life of Birds, the superb lyrebird of southeastern Australia must be near the top of the list. To persuade females to come close, the male lyrebird sings the most complex song he can manage.
World's loudest bird, the white bellbird, has a mating call above the human pain threshold. A male white bellbird screams its mating call.
In fact, the White Bellbird has the loudest bird call ever documented, according to a paper published today in the journal Current Biology. Its short, booming, two-part call is three times the sound pressure level—a measure of sound intensity—of the Screaming Piha's call, the previous record-holder.