WarbleIf the sound is a thin, high weesa weesa weesa repeated six or more times at a steady pace, like a wheelbarrow wheel that needs oil, you are hearing a Black-and-white Warbler, probably creeping along a tree trunk. If the squeak is a single harsh scrape like a rusty hinge, it is a Common Grackle. A watery gurgle that ends in a squeak is a Brown-headed Cowbird, and a quiet, musical squeak from a bird that also screams is a Blue Jay. In southern pine woods, a rubber duck in the treetops is a Brown-headed Nuthatch.
How to tell which squeak you have
- A steady series of identical thin squeaks, high and a little monotonous, from a wooded spot in spring: Black-and-white Warbler.
- One harsh, grating squeak at a time, from a big glossy black bird on a lawn or in a treetop: Common Grackle.
- A low liquid gurgle that jumps to a high squeak, from a small dark bird puffing itself up near other blackbirds: Brown-headed Cowbird.
- A quiet, musical squeak like an old hand pump, from a blue and white bird that also screams jay, jay: Blue Jay.
- A rubber duck being squeezed in a pine tree in the Southeast: Brown-headed Nuthatch.
- A rambling stream of squeaks, whistles and rattles from a rooftop or wire: European Starling.
The classic: Black-and-white Warbler
When birders say a bird sounds like a squeaky wheel, this is the one they mean. The song is a thin, high, two-part note repeated at least six times in a row, written as wee-see wee-see wee-see or weesa weesa weesa. Audubon compares it to a squeaky wheelbarrow, and the comparison holds: same pitch, same rhythm, no visible effort, more machine than bird.
The bird itself is easy to confirm if you can find it. It is the only North American warbler that feeds on bark, working up and down trunks and along big limbs the way a nuthatch does and switching its body from side to side at each hop. Look for a small bird striped black and white from head to tail, moving on the wood rather than in the leaves. Males arrive on the breeding grounds in late April, ahead of the females, and sing in mature and second-growth forest across the eastern and northern United States and much of Canada. The whole population winters from Florida south to Peru.
The other suspects
If the squeak does not repeat like clockwork, one of these is more likely.
Two more small birds squeak in flight rather than from a perch. The American Goldfinch gives a bright per-chick-o-ree, often heard as potato chip, timed to each dip of its bounding flight over thistle patches, weedy roadsides and gardens. The Cedar Waxwing calls with a very high trill and a thin, lisping tseee, given constantly by flocks that move from one berry tree to the next.
And then there is the squeaky toy. The Brown-headed Nuthatch, a tiny bird found only in the pine forests of the southeastern states, has a sharp whee-hyah call that sounds remarkably like a rubber duck being squeezed and is loud for a bird its size. It lives in cooperative groups of three to five adults, so you rarely get just one squeak.
Squeak by squeak
| What it sounds like | Likely bird | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thin weesa weesa weesa, six or more times, steady | Black-and-white Warbler | Trunks and big limbs in eastern and northern woods, late April through summer |
| One harsh scrape, like a rusty hinge or gate | Common Grackle | Lawns, farmland and parks east of the Rockies, spreading west |
| Low watery gurgle that leaps to a high squeak | Brown-headed Cowbird | Open country, pastures and feedlots coast to coast |
| Quiet musical squeak like an old hand pump | Blue Jay | Oak and pine woods, suburbs and towns in the East and Midwest |
| Rubber duck in a pine tree | Brown-headed Nuthatch | Pine forests of the southeastern states |
| Bright potato chip squeak in bouncing flight | American Goldfinch | Weedy fields, roadsides and gardens nationwide |
| Very high trill and thin lisp from a whole flock | Cedar Waxwing | Fruiting trees, orchards and open woods |
| Squeaks mixed with whistles, clicks and imitations | European Starling | Cities, farms and parks almost everywhere |
Why so many birds sound like hardware
A squeak is a high, thin sound that slides quickly in pitch, and small birds make high, thin, sliding sounds all day long. Hinges, axles and rubber ducks do the same, so our ears file the bird under hardware. The cowbird is the extreme case: its song starts very low and ends very high, a span the Smithsonian's National Zoo calls the greatest pitch range of any North American songbird, and the top of that leap is the squeak you notice.
The birds are not imitating anything, with one exception. The starling, like the Northern Mockingbird, borrows sounds from other birds and from man-made noise and drops them into its song between whistles and clicks. Every other bird on this list is simply singing its own song, and it happens to sound like something in your garage.
How to settle it
Two clues do most of the work. First, count: a Black-and-white Warbler repeats the same note six or more times, a grackle gives one scrape and stops, and a starling never repeats anything for long. Second, look at where the sound is coming from: bark means warbler or nuthatch, a lawn means grackle or cowbird, the top of a tall tree means jay. If the bird stays hidden, open Warble and let it listen through a few squeaks. The card it hands you settles whether you caught the warbler or the gate.
Questions people ask
What bird sounds like a squeaky wheel?
The Black-and-white Warbler. Its song is a thin, high weesa weesa weesa repeated at least six times, which Audubon compares to a squeaky wheelbarrow. Listen in eastern and northern woods from late April through summer, and watch the trunks: it feeds on bark like a nuthatch.
What bird sounds like a rusty gate?
Usually a Common Grackle. Its harsh, high call sounds like a rusty hinge, and the male's spring song is a short scrape delivered with the bill pointed up and the feathers fluffed. Grackles are common on lawns and farms east of the Rockies and are spreading west.
What bird sounds like a rubber ducky or a squeaky toy?
In the southeastern states, the Brown-headed Nuthatch. Its whee-hyah call sounds very much like a rubber duck toy and is loud for such a small bird. It lives only in southern pine forests and travels in noisy family groups.
Sources
- National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds: Black-and-white Warbler. www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-and-white-warbler
- Wikipedia: Black-and-white warbler (song and bark foraging). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-white_warbler
- National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds: Common Grackle. www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-grackle
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute: Brown-headed Cowbird. nationalzoo.si.edu/node/9440
- Wikipedia: Brown-headed nuthatch (the rubber duck call). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_nuthatch