I'm quite good making bird sounds. I can make sounds like an owl, seagull, titmouse, cuckoo, and sparrow. Making owl and cuckoo sound I blow in my hands.
Seagull is by my voice.
On sparrow and titmouse I whistle with a special technique. I kind of try to whistle higher up then possible, so that my tonguetouches both up and down teeth, and then blow up my cheeks. Then, if you do it right, you'll get a bird-like whistling.
I'm practicing double-whistling, but I can't explain how to do it. You kind of (I think) make one whiste behind your teeth, and one like normal.

Can anybody explain other whistling techiques? Different bird-whistling techiques...?

Gard

i can only make noise with my mouth :)

I make bigfoot noises with my mouth. I used to make all sorts of sounds at work, which caused one guy to remark, you know Jack, people shouldn't be able to even MAKE noises like that. MY girlfriend used to be able to make seagull noises, though

I can make grunting noises like a caveman and death metal growls....lol.

Some kid in my art class does NOTHING but whistle for 75 minutes. I want him dead.

The only birdcalls I am good at are jackdaw and crow calls. Those are rather easy to learn, being nearer to words than whistles and we had both kind of birds around the house in my teens.

Willeke

I hear a whistling sound when the wind blows hard   :P

I also have a special whistle to communicate with fammily members in the woods or shopping . It helps to locate them. :)

A girl that I work with made some comment on our break together regarding the phrase "monkey noises" yesterday night, which launched me off into a string of chimp noises, ranging from curious hooting to alert calls. this, in turn, resulted in her almost spitting her dinner at the nearest window with laughter. As well, one night, I arbitrarily decided to impersonate a white handed gibbon after the library closed, and was impressed with the acoustics of the place, as well as the amused reactions of my coworkers. thinking on it now, what is with me and ape noises?

Are you a close relative to them?  ;)

Willeke

Yeah, some would say...seriously, though. My family calls my dad, "The Silverback" referencing the name given to any male gorilla over 10 years of age, especially one leading a family group. We call him this because of his hair colour, and yeah, his temper, sometimes. As well, his coworkers have started calling him this too, and he seems to like the nickname.

let's face it mammot no bloke is going to complain at being given the nickname of a creature strong enough to easily tear a mans arms and legs off :-)

I just do normal whistling.

I can only really call doves

now how did you ever get to work in a library when you like to make that much noise? :) ;)

I bared my teeth and beat my chest, and false-charged the HR people when my application was rejected. They quickly got the point, and one woman was smart enough to know to avoid my eye contact and speak softly and reach her hand out with a palmfull of nuts and seeds. More than a year later, here I am working for the City government! It's sort of a monkey house where I work anyway most of the time, so I guess I fit in. Besides, I'm a pretty good baker, and library women love to eat, so they keep me around.

so the tides have turned then

at first you ate from there palm, now they eat your baked good's  ;D

Yes, yes, it's ironic, really. I hadn't thought of it in those terms.

Male cunning triumphs again! ;D ::)

wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2005 at 1:23am:

I have, over the years, developed my own technique of whistling tunes, non-stop and without needing pause to take a breath, in which I whistle in the traditional manner (with air being expelled outward) while alternating also to whistling by drawing air inward with the same 'pursed'-lip shape ("embouchure", if you will). My breathing is accomplished through my nose actually while I whistle. Perhaps this is a form of circular breathing; I am not sure. I only know that it is second nature for me now. I would note that traditional (outward airflow) whistling produces a louder whistle than my "inward airflow" form of whistling, and so I automatically compensate to even-out the volume by softening/reducing the volume produced while whistling in the traditional manner.

Can you explain how you do this?

Gard

Doesn't everyone do this? It's amazing how many times in a given week it gets pointed out that I'm "unusual". :P

Whistling "in" is the same as whistling out, and I must use a slightly different embourchure as volume seems about the same both directions (correction: low notes are easier/louder an the outbreath, while high notes are either the same or slightly easier on intake). Once you have the whistling down all you need to do is breath through your nose at the same time. I find it easiest to just whistle on the way out and then draw a slow breath through my nose and whistle at the same time. This isn't really circular breathing, as there's no circle involved - just plain old regular breathing through your mouth and nose at the same time (while whistling ;)). Now, where's my didj - that will make me light headed for sure!

Matthias

I can do it too Matthias, but not well.
It would have helped if I could wistle well in the first place.

Do you use the kind of wistle in which you form a real small o with your lips? (That is the way I wistle.) Or the kind in which you keep your lips straight, as in smiling?

Willeke

Oh I see. Just me and my English again, I just don't pick up some words... :-/
If you put your lips forward, but not so much that it's uncomfortable, so that you'll look like a stupid duck, and then whistling inwards, you'll get a loud and clear sound.
My mom whistles with the hole a little to the left.
I can whistle very loud with a little help from my index finger and thumb on both hands. I put the four fingers together forming a small square about 6 mm big, and blow through that.

Gard

i am now dizzy i cant seem to whisle at all useing my fingers.

I can whistle in now! but i cant whistle out, then in. I must need practice  

i think it will remain your skill my friend. Im just not dedicated enough :)

Another death metal growler here. :( But I do have quite a range!

I have that kind of spikey strikingly annoying whistle, I can't help it.