Did You Hear a Droplet?

Sometimes in the desert, you may hear a loud and distinct sound like a very large droplet of water dropping into a pool.

The droplet-dropping sound is actually the call of a Curved-billed Thrasher, a brown bird with a distinguished down-curving bill and surprising orange eyes.

The Cornell bird labs characterize the call as a sharp, whistled “whit-weet”at their website www.allaboutbirds.org

Perhaps it only sounds like water to parched desert dwellers.

These birds, relatives of mockingbirds, live in the southwestern United States deserts and through much of Mexico.