Weird bird call, not!

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Thoth

Nomad
Aug 5, 2008
342
28
Hertford, Hertfordshire
I've been in local woodland recently wondering what the prominent bird call I didn't recognise was. On my walk out l spotted the source; it was the mating call of the grey squirrel! :-D There are some clips with sound on YouTube if you want to hear it for yourselves. I had no idea they made such a weird noise until now. Always something to learn . . .
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,520
3,460
65
Exmoor
Localy we have a squirrel that makes a sound very similar to a woodpecker. I was always muddling them up but now can tell the difference. Took a few seasons though to get it right.
 

Wildgoose

Full Member
May 15, 2012
776
429
Middlesex
Heard that noise today at my local country park, managed to spot the pair “together” too....
first time I’ve heard or seen such squirrel behaviour.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
I tried YouTube but all the videos they had portrayed the same call. U fortunately contrary to what the video posters claimed it’s not a mating call. It’s the everyday barking they do when they see something that alarms them. This call:
 

Thoth

Nomad
Aug 5, 2008
342
28
Hertford, Hertfordshire
Thanks for posting those links. What I was hearing was alternating 'kuks' and 'quaas' as a repeating series. Here's a further handy link: https://soundcloud.com/user-911020041/sets/greay-squirrel-calls Like Wildgoose I saw a pair mating, the male having been making what I'm going to describe as the 'kuk-quaa' call repeatedly as he followed the female up and around an oak tree before mating.
 

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