Episode Number
117
Episode Show Notes / Description
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus).
The source of the mysterious clucking heard in woodlands.
Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make.
The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- Eastern chipmunk cluck call by Wil Hershberger (ML100848)
- Eastern chipmunk chisp call by Wil Hershberger (ML305948)
Sources and more:
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
I have been sent this call by friends, family, and fans of the show. It causes more confusion than maybe any other animal in Illinois; I think that’s quite understandable – it just doesn’t quite fit in the taxonomy of soundmakers we have in our heads. It seems to have the regularity of an amphibian, the numbers for an insect, and the habitat and loudness of a bird. It is in-fact none of the above. The call belongs to a mammal; one with adorable cheek pouches suitable for transporting acorns; it belongs to the eastern chipmunk.
The chipmunk’s clucking alarm call is often given in response to a bird of prey gliding through the chipmunk’s shrubby wooded territory. Once one starts clucking away, others will join so that eventually the whole community of chipmunks has stopped their foraging to scan for and alert others about the potential threat. Chipmunks are best heard between late summer and fall. That’s when they’re stocking their burrows with acorns to eat throughout the winter. Here’s the eastern chipmunk again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
I have been sent this call by friends, family, and fans of the show. It causes more confusion than maybe any other animal in Illinois; I think that’s quite understandable – it just doesn’t quite fit in the taxonomy of soundmakers we have in our heads. It seems to have the regularity of an amphibian, the numbers for an insect, and the habitat and loudness of a bird. It is in-fact none of the above. The call belongs to a mammal; one with adorable cheek pouches suitable for transporting acorns; it belongs to the eastern chipmunk.
The chipmunk’s clucking alarm call is often given in response to a bird of prey gliding through the chipmunk’s shrubby wooded territory. Once one starts clucking away, others will join so that eventually the whole community of chipmunks has stopped their foraging to scan for and alert others about the potential threat. Chipmunks are best heard between late summer and fall. That’s when they’re stocking their burrows with acorns to eat throughout the winter. Here’s the eastern chipmunk again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW