[Elisabethff]

Hello,
We live in a ground floor condo near city hall, Vancouver and are fascinated daily by the Anna's hummingbirds and other small birds that visit our patio. But we have been surprised for the last three nights by a song bird in the pitch dark around 1:00 am with a steady chirp chirp chirp. It's a bit like a finch, a bit like a song sparrow, and not at all in distress. Any ideas?
Elisabeth (my first post)

[rawalker]

Unfortunately I do not have enough expertise in calls to ID this for you based on your description. What I may suggest, which I have found very useful in the past, is using a phone/camera/video camera to either record a voice memo or a video that will contain the audio of the call. You can then post the file to this forum for more accurate ID help.

Randy - Langley

[Hoss]

I've heard robins calling in the dead of night. They produce a wide range of sounds, but without an audio file or lurking outside of your house at 1am (a good recipe for arrest), its gonna be impossible to figure it out.

[taniab]

Isn't that interesting! If you do find out what's making this late night chirping, could you please post and share your findings?

[Guy L. Monty]

From the description and location, I would guess you are hearing House Sparrows. Virtually any bird will vocalize if exposed to light in the night though.

Guy L. Monty
Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC