Last November, I went to an area along a small river in the southern Oregon coast where an acquaintenance of mine reported BF calls. He said the howls had been going on for about a month on and off. This fellow was sleeping in his pickup up in this area and is a BF fan. I passed his pickup and went a few miles farther to this dark deserted campgound. I decided to camp on the side of the main road because the campground was too spooky. It was pitch black and I stood by my car listening. A bird began to loudly call from this brush thicket about 30 feet away. The brush was 8' high and about 40' wide and was at the entrance of this deserted camp ground. The call went on for about 20 seconds with various sounds and pitches. About 30% of my mind was saying BF and the other part said bird. There was no odor or other indicators of BF, just this beautify bird call. I took my flash light and shined it around the thicket, but saw nothing. The bird song stopped.

A few minutes later my friend and his family drove by and turned around the thicket to enter the spooky campground. They started a big fire and set up camp. I went and joined them and Don asked what that rotten smell was over by the brush thicket. I about fell over and said what? I still can't believe what he said and that it may have been a BF. I fell like I missed a golden opportunity and regret putting the light on the thicket.

Was if a BF of a coincidence?

What do you think about this behavior?

Does anyone have possible BF bird calls?

Should I have walked over to the thicket?

George: I am sorry I messed up that reply. I simply wanted to tell you that these animals in the South do in fact mimic about any sound they hear, including the calls of "day" birds. I don't know if the sounds you heard were from A BF or not, but they could have been, and that's for certain. They will in fact make some of the strangest sounds you will ever hear, including some type of speech. Just accept that and continue your field work with that info in mind.

When you hear such sounds, just make your own crazy sounds and be prepared for the fun.

Been there, done that.

Regards

I was hoping maybe you could explain why you believe (or know for fact) that Bigfoot has the ability to mimic the sounds/calls of other known creatures such as birds?
Were you able to observe this behavior?

A more likely explanation.

And yes, when safety allows you should always attempt to discern the source.

I guess he has mkianni judging by his extremely confident reply & i too am looking forward to hearing about his experience !!

Aren't diurnal birds quiet while they roost? Especially in pitch black darkness?

Female mockingbirds are more reserved in their calling, but male mockingbirds will call throughout the night.

Are they pretty common in S Oregon then ??

Excuse my ignorance !!

From the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

How come I'm not surprised?

It's very important to learn the calls of the birds (and animals) in your area. Cornell is a great resource. We run a recorder all night and have gotten our share of birds, which Cornell has always been more than gracious to help me identify. So far I have found that owls are the usual suspect and have a wide range of annoying, all night, sleep disturbing calls.

The mockingbird can imitate more than just bird calls. Perhaps it was a male mockingbird imitating a sasquatch imitating a bird?

They imitate, they don't reproduce the sounds. There is a difference. And anyone who professes to be engaged in the study of these creatures and does not know they are not "big monkeys" as shown by your group logo, probably would not know the difference between the sounds of a real mockingbird and one of these creatures when they are being intimidating.

The original writer sought information. He got it. He can use it or discount it and discover it for himself. As can you.

To imitate by definition means to reproduce. Did you assume I meant in written form as opposed to song?



No, there isn't. Look up the definition for yourself.



That's mighty tough talk for someone that knows absolutely nothing about myself or the work that I've done. The entire point of our "logo" (which by the way logos are images, slogans are written) is to point out that the real focus of this matter should always be the subject itself. It's subtle sarcasm that you obviously missed by a mile. As for the "big monkey" part you can't prove it any more wrong than you can prove anything to the contrary.



Trust me. I've already discounted everything you've written, and the original poster would be well advised to do the same.

George,

If I may ask a question without any intent to offend, ( lately I feel I should start off my questioning in this manner as so many seem to become so personally offended as if my only purpose in life is to shoot all available evidence and or claims down in flames.) what was it that made 30% of your mind think that this sound could be coming from a Bigfoot?

I'm curious because the Bigfoot mimicking known bird/animal calls evidence is new to me as I'm not familiar with any other detailed reports of this nature. ( Maybe I should start reading more reports.)
In any case I find it fascinating that more of this type of evidence or claim is presenting itself yet I can't seem to find its root. In other words, where did this type of assumption get its start?
Did somebody somewhere see a Bigfoot mimicking a barred owl or a coyote?

Okay "That's the most blatant case of man bashing I've ever seen" on this forum. I think we need to swiftly offer her the Standard Stern Boilerplate (and far superior I might add) Rebuttal™ to such trash talkin. Anyway, I lost my only copy. Anyone got a copy?

I agree this sounds like a more logical explanation. These birds were quite common to the Washington DC area where I grew up. I remember them being referred to as "cat birds".

I tell you what mkianni, i have definately read reports before of BF mimicking/imitating noses of Animals & Birds, or at least that's what people who submitted the reports thought !!

Finding them again wouldn't be easy but i have definately read a few !!

The northern mockingbird's habitation area does typically reach to northern California, particularly so near to the Pacific coast, as per the map below (sourced from wikipedia). It is not unreasonable, given the slow march northward of flora and fauna due to climatological changes, to allow for the possibility that the periodic northern mockingbird has ended up in the southern Oregon habitat area, at least from time to time.

Though flora rather than fauna, when I lived in Seattle, I knew it was possible for the Mexican evening primrose to grow there, even though its traditional habitat is typically constrained to the southwestern U.S. (perhaps up to the Bay Area in California) and Mexico. I'm not sure how long it's been possible to do that, but it took me by surprise when I stumbled into them one summer a few years ago.

Click to view attachment

That map image is credited as (Linnaeus, 1758). A more up to date map from Cornell shows the current range of the birds.

Heh. I didn't see that! That's a bit amusing, since Carolus Linnaeus simply came up with the Latin taxonomic system, lived in Sweden, and probably wasn't aware of the U.S. Pacific Northwest at that time. Something tells me that the map I referenced from Wikipedia came actually from some other source, not Linnaeus himself. :)

Thanks for the more comprehensive map!

Do not dismiss the THE SMELL. Yes, it's very likely that it was an actual bird making those calls, but I've read quite a few reports about BFs mimicking birds...Here's one

But, even the witness in that sighting report didn't see a bigfoot make the sounds that he called "birdlike in nature".

While a night time sound encounter with bigfoot may be frightening, It can be very difficult to document.

I have a Michigan Bigfoot that mimics a mockingbird mimicking a bigfoot, mimicing a coyote. It's all good though. I know it's true because a month ago I saw a mockingbird at 3PM, and I thought it was mimicing a coyote, but the coyotes are all on the other side of the highway, so the only thing that the mockingbird could have heard was a BF that had traversed the Highway after hearing the coyote howl. Upon further study, I found that the mockingbird that I had heard has recently lost it's vocal ability, therefore, the sound I heard just two days ago WASN'T coming from the mute mockingbird, but from another bigfoot, which had previously heard the then-vocal mockingbird mimicing the nomadic bigfoot-who-mimics-coyotes, and now every night presents us with a vocal barrage the likes of which I have never seen.

You should, if possible, try to document these sounds with a continuous recording. Mockingbirds are typically not territorial to the point where only one will populate a broad area within its typical habitat. Bird watchers on this forum might help with either identifying the sounds from your recording or, if unable to, might point to another source (which could indicate mimickry from another animal). It's better to definitively eliminate all possibilities before jumping to a conclusion such as these definitely coming from sasquatch.

This is another fine example of how important it is to learn one's local flora and fauna well so as to really be attuned to something that might actually be out of the ordinary. Mockingbirds, and just about any other bird disturbed from an evening roost (if I'm interpreting the story correctly), will sing or call in a situation like this. I suspect this to be a case a disturbance rather than territorial song due to the time of year (November).

Among local birds and small mammals, there are probably dozens of candidates for the brief sound you heard. Bird song + bad smell does not equal sasquatch.

The above post was sarcasm, I'm sorry if anyone thought otherwise. My Bad.

And darned good satire too, I might add!

or even heard, I'd bet.

At the time, I had no knowledge of BF mimicing any birds.




This incidence happened in November so some birds were probably migrating south. Thank you for the mockingbird information and I will check with local bird watchers to get more information on this bird. The bird was definately good at making a varied song that didn't repeat melodies for 20 seconds.




If I hear this call again, I will record it.


All of your comments have been helpful, and I would like to pass it off as a bird for my own piece of mind. I feel like a unique experience was ruined when I shined the light in the thicket, and the song stopped. If a BF, maybe it was baiting me in closer for a grab and free meal.. gulp.......(1/4 serious) If it was a bird, it was 8' off the ground in a brush thicket, and it was not making a distress call. I'm a native Oregonian and have never heard a call like this one before, but I don't live in the woods either. Other than owls, birds don't call at night from my experiences. This is what was odd too.

Also, a local man reported BF calls coming from this remote river canyon which is why I went there. Bear in mind, my friend and his wife reported a foul smell when they turned around the thicket to enter the campground. The smell part is what has be believing that it could have been a BF. The next day I went into the thicket, and there was an easy way in and I found no dead animals to account for the smell. If a BF, the thicket could be easily exited from opposite side from where I was standing.

Here are the facts that have me leaning towards BF but I really would like it to have been something else.

1. The area had reported BF calls during the past month. Were a group of BFs migrating from the cold hills to the river for the salmon run in progress? A group of BFs would make an encounter more possible.
2. The call was close and came from a thicket next to the road. The call seemed to be for me. If a bird, it was not distressed trying to protect its nest.
3. The call was very melodic and went of for 15 to 20 seconds with out repetition. This is the first night bird call from my experiences other than owls.
4. The call stopped after shining my light. Would a bird stop?
5. The clincher, is the foul odor report from the man and wife. There was no dead animal in the brush so how can this be explained? I asked if he was kidding me several times, and he said a foul smell came from the thicket. I did not smell it because the scent was travling down hill, and I was slightly up hill from the thicket. The thicket was between me and the river. The river was 100' from the brush. However, the next morning there were no tracks along the river sand patches.

I will never know for sure, but the fact lead me to think BF.

I tell you what. Mockingbirds are amazing in the sounds they can make. I remember once when I was about 17 years old, I watched a mockingbird in a tree in our backyard imitating the dog next door. It was funny watching the dog go crazy when that bird would bark back at him. If I hadn't been watching it, I would have thought there was a dog in the tree.

You say the "call" did NOT repeat itself? That would pretty much rule out mockingbirds. They habitually repeat every phrase of their song several times. While it's very difficult from your description to nail it down, I'm going to suggest you heard a Winter Wren.

Somebody smelled a foul odor? During the salmon run? Maybe there was a salmon head in the thicket that some raccoon carted off in the night.

George, my husband grew up in Southern Oregon. There are mockingbirds there.

I believe this was already noted above, but thought I would include it anyway.


Aside from mockingbirds:


As for birds not making calls at night? Not true. I have spent many nights just sitting under the stars. I have heard songbirds cut loose at 11pm. In fact, I heard one the other night after reading your original post. I am not sure what bird it was, if it cuts loose again I will ask hubby since he knows the calls better than I.

There are many other birds besides owls that will call at night.





note: marsh wrens live year round in Oregon. Robins will also sing well into the night.

Also note that many songbirds migrate at night. This opens up the possibilities of non-native birds that may be your cuprit.

Redwolf

Oh I hope that comes in book form cause I can't reach the top shelf in my kitchen and need something to stand on!

I find it very interesting georgerm that the call didn't repeat. Several fellow researchers and I heard a "whistle" in Washington once (one whistle from one side of the road; another whistle from the other; followed by a bipedal something leaning out to check us out). A 500 pound whistle is very distinctive, as might what you heard.

Before attributing odd whistles to bigfoot, I encourage our friends out west to become familiar with the haunting song of the Varied Thrush. (This is the bird they used to show for a second during the opening of Twin Peaks many years ago.) The range and habitat for Varied Thrush is basically identical to that reported for bigfoot in the PNW. I've always been skeptical when reading stories of whistling bigfeet that Varied Thrushes were the culprits.

And, not to pick on you but to throw out other potential explanations, can any of our mule deer hunters shed light on the sounds made by mulies when they "pronk"? Mule deer are prone to an odd form of locomotion similar to the "stotting" of some African gazelles. I've seen elk do this too, but I've never seen a whitetail do it. Anyway, it involves the forlegs and hindlegs moving together, and apparently, all four feet hitting the ground at the same time. I'm wondering if the sound of a pronking mule deer could possibly be construed as sounding like bipedal running to a witness some distance away. Any thoughts, sportspeople?

I'm very familiar with what a thrush sounds like. What I found most convincing that it wasn't a thrush (and yet also very disturbing) was the voice that followed the whistles that said, "Hey Harry, we'll going to need more BBQ sauce for that blond...."

With apologies to the dead horse I'm beating Hairy Man, I just want to make sure we're talking about the same thrush.

Hermit Thrush and Swainson's Thrush are common in the Pacific Northwest, and they both sound like "thrushes". By that I mean they have beautiful, complex songs that incorporate flutelike notes and wheezy elements like Gray-cheeked, Bicknell's, and Wood Thrushes. (Edited: And Veeries - I almost forgot 'em!)

This Varied Thrush that I mentioned is entirely different, and it is probably unfamiliar to people unless they make a concerted effort to find one. They look superfcially like a young robin, so they'd be easy to overlook. They also tend to skulk about in very dense vegetation, and aren't that easy to see in the first place. Their song consists of single, drawn out, well-spaced whistles. You might get one whistle and then nothing again for several minutes. It's an eerie sound: loud and highly ventriloqual. That's why I think these could potentially explain some of the whistling bigfoot reports. (I said "some" . . .)

~Saskeptic

No offense Bradley but it's a far more likely explanation. Im not quite sure why people automatically assume Bigfoot in situations like this. And a good example of why you should not try to match wits with Bittermonk.

Hi Georgerm!

In my neck of the woods, which is in the middle of urban city blocks, mockingbirds often sing in the early morn hours, 12:30 am to 3:30 am, without repeating a call for many minutes, if ever, during a session. Three weeks ago, robins were chirping along a three mile stretch of a densely populated urban neighborhood thoroughfare at 2:30 am as I drove to a get-together after a gig. Then, they continued yapping away the entire time I spent at the outdoor gathering. I was surprised that so many robins were chatting along such a stretch of territory at such a time for so long. I thought they all followed me!

The eastern screech owl which can be heard on Stan Courtney's site has given me the willies the two times I've personally heard it in my life. Barred owls sound off with whoops, "whoop-whoop-whoop" and "laughing" calls "wah-ah-ah-ah!" often before commencing their guttural "who cooks for you? who cooks for you? who cooks for youuuuuuuuu" chant.

So, birds other than owls can and will yap away at night. As for the stench you encountered, I can't offer anything. There's some good websites with bird calls on them. Browse them and see if you might be able to match what you heard.

FWIW...

DR

Oh, and shining a light toward them will normally shut up any critters, including crickets.

DR

(Edited to say, don't feel like you necessarily missed something out of the ordinary by shining a light its way.)

i have to say that i don't entirely agree with everyone when it comes to birds. I have spent 10 years of my yougers days working in the youth conservation corp. of wisconsin. we did alot of work with many breeds of birds. robins are our state bird and as far as robin sounds late into the darkness i for one have never heard them. and very rarely have i heard moking birds late in the evening, not to say that they don't but in wisconsin only when they are desturbed and i mean getting very close to them. The only birds i have heard in dark hours are as follows and they are distinct in their sounds no mistake at all, (turkey when disturbed, screech owls, great horn owls, and ounce in a great while mocking birds). this is not to say in other states their behaviour isn't different but i don't see that being the case allthough possible. and wisconsin has alot of different birds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, no that wasn't the thrush I was thinking of at all! I think I have seen a varied thrush, but I didn't know it was a thrush (I thought it was a warbler...opps). I listened to its calls just now from here and that isn't what I heard that night. We were walking for about an hour before we heard a "woo-hoo" on one side of the road, quickly followed by "woo-hoo" on the other side and then nothing else...dead silence...about 10 minutes later, something stepped out from behind a tree. We didn't hear any other whistles or anything else prior to or after that time. (and please note, the sound wasn't really "woo-hoo" that's just the best spelling I can do). I am of course not saying it was a bigfoot, but it was definitely odd and out of place.

Indulge me for just a moment here please.

How is something that "could have been", 'certain'? Isn't something that "could have been" just a possibility?

I agree with guyinindiana

I tried this approach earlier in the thread, I was ignored.

Good luck with your attempt!

Hubby said it was the Swainson thrush we heard singing well after dark here. We have also heard a male blue grouse "wooping" around 10 pm in the brush towards the end of our field. He was one lovesick bird lol. We have heard a male robin singing in the plum tree outside our house around midnight. Spend enough time outside at night and it is amazing what you will hear. When we first moved here (N. Coast Range) I went to check on the animals late into the evening that first summer. I heard a bird call that I hadn't heard before. I got hubby and his dad to help me ID it. In a heartbeat my father-in-law heard it and said it was a little screech owl. Sure enough, I shone my light into the fir tree and there was this tiny owl making a big noise. Cutest damn thing. There were a family of them living here that summer and it was always a treat to see the little fuzzballs out and about.

I have lived here for years and I am still being surprised by the wildlife. Just a couple weeks ago, a flock of wild turkeys greeted my husband when he walked down to get the paper. A short time before that, the kids and I saw a dark (nearly black) red fox. It isn't unusual for me to have 30 elk in my front yard. Several female blacktail deer use our back field for a nursery in late spring.

I have yet to identify the sound I heard with Hairyman and others that night in Washington. I have searched through birds, rodents and mammals. I am not saying it was a sasquatch, only that I have not been able to match it to a known animal yet. There are so many birds that make such a variety of calls that it seems impossible to search them all. I am trying though.

Just because a bird isn't a common visitor or resident of an area doesn't mean it can't fly off course and end up somewhere it has never been seen before.

Redwolf

Thanks for indulging me! Some people get downright testy when you ask them questions about a bird ID.

I think you've now described this sound as both a whistle and a "woo-hoo". This new info helps, or at least provides me with another potential culprit. Have you checked out the little owls, i.e., Northern Pygmy Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl? These little guys don't sound like the more familar screech owls, barred owls, or great horned owls. The little owls "toot", and I might describe them as sounding like high pitched whistles through which the owl says "woo".

~S

It was indeed a whistle...as I noted above it wasn't literally "woo-hoo" like an owl, I was just trying to spell the whistle sound (and didn't do a good job of it either). Redwolf was one of the ladies with me and she too has been looking for years on what it was we heard. So far, neither of us have been able to identify it.

I guess that answers my questions judging by the Map !! ; wink

If I may try. (I'm always sticking my nose in others' business) I think what he is saying is that it's certain that it could have been.