Calling All Bird Experts

What sort of bird it this? It makes a loud high pitched screech. You can click for a really big view.

Update: My bird expert friend Judy has identified the mystery bird as a Lesser Yellowlegs. (If you click on the Lesser Yellowlegs link, you can hear the high pitched sound it makes.) According to Judy, who, by the way, is at species number 342 on her life bird sighting list,

It's a shore bird but enjoys making a lot of noise while teetering at the top of trees. It is one of the prime food sources for the Peregine Falcon which, after a thrilling come-back, are somewhat on the decline. One theory is that the Yellowlegs are being poisoned by insecticides from farmers clearing coffee fields in Central America.

So there you go. A little bit about the this bird, and the Peregrine Falcon, to boot. And yes, if there are Lesser Yellowlegs, then there have to be Greater Yellowlegs with whom they can compare legs.

Rey, who is a city boy and has never seen a bird, found this post and the comments very funny. That reminded me of my youngest daughter, who first saw a goat when she was 3 years old or so. She couldn't stop giggling. I'm not sure if it was because she found the goat ridiculous looking, or if the giggling was from nervousness because she found it frightening.

And when she could manage to get a word or two out between the giggles, she kept saying, "A moose! Hee hee...a moose!"

Tags: birds, bird identification, bird calls, shore birds, lesser yellowlegs, greater yellowlegs, peregrine falcon, tree top teetering