3 September 2014
Here’s something I learned by being fooled: River otters can sound like birds.
I found this out in Belfast, Maine one summer when my husband and I walked across the footbridge in the evening. The Passagassawakeag River was beautiful at sunset as the birds gathered to roost and a family of river otters swam at the Belfast shore.
We were on the other side of the bridge when I heard a loud bird chirping. What bird was that? Intrigued, I approached the sound to find out.
For the life of me I could not find any bird. The voice echoed under the bridge but no songbird was down there. Finally I realized the sound came from the otters. They were whistling to each other.
This recording from the University of Utah’s streaming library is what they sounded like:
Who knew that river otters could sound like birds?!
(photo by David Stanley via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
Well if it fooled you it surely would me. : )