1. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Sounds birds makes

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Lea`Brooks, Oct 23, 2015.

    Hello!

    So in my WIP, I have a giant bird. lol And he's a "friend" to my MC. I'm in the process of writing the chapter where he is first introduced, and I'm struggling to find the right words.

    He's intelligent, so he understands what people are saying, and he's able to react to them. For example, my MC is talking to him, and he makes noises back at her, like he's responding and she can't understand him. But other than caw, trill, and call, I know very few bird sounds. I even tried to look it up, but most of the sounds I found are... well, actual sounds. He doesn't hoot or quack or cock-a-doodle-do. He has a loud call that he does, but shriek isn't the right word for it..

    Anyway. I'm making up the creature. His face and legs are like a Chocobo (from Final Fantasy), but his wings and body are more like an eagle. He's taller than a human, flies fast, can carry a person on his back, and is pure white with a ring of yellow and red around his neck. Don't know if you need that, but still.

    Any idea what kind of bird sounds I can use? :D
     
  2. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Based on the description, it actually sounds like an Egyptian vulture.
    And if it's that big, it's larynx (and syrinx, if it's closer to a songbird) will be bigger, and thus operate at a much lower octave. So, no tweets or chirps.
    Ravens have been said to squawk, caw, croak, whir, hiss and buzz.
     
  3. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_vulture "Egyptian vultures are mostly silent but make high-pitched mewing or hissing notes at the nest and screeching noises when squabbling at a carcass. Young birds have been heard making a hissing croak in flight.[9] They also hiss or growl when threatened or angry."

    https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/b/buzzard/ " Their plaintive mewing call could be mistaken for a cat."

    This is quite a large bird with quite a high-pitched call.

    Or, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_eagle "The voice of the golden eagle is considered weak, high and shrill, even being emphatically described as “quite pathetic” and “puppy-like”, and as somewhat incongruous considering the formidable size and nature of the species."
     
  4. Chinspinner

    Chinspinner Contributor Contributor

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    cuckoo cuckoo weird question.
     
  5. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    It does look like an Egyptian vulture! lol I've never heard of that bird before. Obviously the colors are different, and I picture the beak being a little rounder, but yes, the body and head are identical to what I had in mind. Just... ten feet tall. :p Those words help, thank you!

    Those are all very helpful too. Thank you! I like the puppy-like and mewing cat-call sounds. I could incorporate those quite easily. Since I'm not going for a specific breed, mixing different sounds isn't very problematic.

    :rofl: I know, I was giggling as I wrote it. But I gotta make it realistic-ish! :p
     
  6. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Some suggestions: hoot, twitter, tweet, facebook (jk!!), cough, caw, warble, screech

    if you watch a lyre bird video you can use any damn noise you want ;-)

     
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  7. Masterspeler

    Masterspeler Active Member

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    Cheep, cheeeep, chip cheep, chip chip, chee-eep.

    I am serious with that. Think of the sounds and just turn them into interjections. (I dont know if English calls sounds verbalized in such a manner interjections. I know other languages that do)

    Or Eeeeuooo, for a yell, or Caaaahhhh.

    If you really want to take this into power geek level think of the size of the bird. So human size, and eagle body. Is the neck bird like or mammalian. The larger the animal the lower the range would be, with more echoing or reverb. (Think of a cub vs a full grown bear grunting) Then think of what sort of vocal chords. Cats and dogs are known to emulate humans in speach by using their tongues and lips. I dont know what a Choco thing is, so if it has a beak that limits the sounds to range and projection via the lungs. If it has vocal chords it may speak but it might not be able to pronounce anything that requires a tongue or lips. No B, D, F, J, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, Z. So that leaves A, C, E, G, H, I, K, O, Q, U, W, X, Y

    I am talking of the phonetic (or is it the other way around. As in C, is cah, not see)

    Hope it helps.

    AB
     
  8. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Since I already have this thread open...

    Would it be too cliched to have her be able to communicate telepathically with the bird? It would be so much easier to write.
     
  9. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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  10. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Cool. That helps. My husband keeps suggesting I do telepathic communication between them, but I was on the fence. But I think I can make it work.

    Not only is my character capable of telepathic communication later, but the bird is also magical and bonds with the human they choose. Like Eragon and Sapphira.

    May be a little cliche... But who cares. It'll make writing this next chapter so much easier. And I thin it'll add something to the story that it didn't have before. Thanks! :D
     

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