This bird "oinks" just like a pig

Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke recently shared a video of a cute little bird named the "Virginia Rail" (Rallus limicola) that, surprisingly, makes "oink" sounds just like a pig. It's unexpected, that's for sure!

In their post, they provided some information about the curious creature, which they describe as "cute, spicy, and leggy." They explain that the bird lives in freshwater marshlands and likes to keep to itself, hiding in the tall reeds and other water plants so it won't be spotted by predators. They go on:

They primarily feed on aquatic invertebrates and tiny fish by using their long, slender beak to probe through shallow water. Their long legs, slender body, and sleek head feathers allow them to dart into the dense reeds and cattails with ease, and we can personally attest to their impressive running speed on land!

They also shared a super cool site called "All About Birds," which is run by the Cornell University's Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where you can listen to the oinking noises of the Virginia Rail. On the Virginia Rail page of "All About Birds," CornellLab provides more details about their funny oinking calls (which you can hear here by clicking on the first option for "calls"):

A long sequence of piglike grunts that tends to trail off at the end emanates from many a wetland in spring. Males and females perform duetting grunts to defend their territories and to communicate with each other throughout the breeding season.

You can see many more birds and hear their sounds on the All About Birds website, and also through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's awesome app called "Merlin" whose purpose is to help the public identify birds they see and hear. Merlin is a free bird guide that includes photos, sounds, maps, and more. The Lab describes Merlin:

Merlin is designed to be a birding coach for bird watchers at every level. Merlin asks you the same questions that an expert birder would ask to help solve a mystery bird sighting. Notice that date and location are Merlin's first and most important questions. It takes years of experience in the field to know what species are expected at a given location and date. Merlin shares this knowledge with you based on more than 800 million sightings submitted to eBird from birders around the world.

Merlin also includes a feature called "Sound ID" that listens to the birds around you and provides suggestions regarding what type of bird might be singing. So far the app is able to identity 1,382 species of birds across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Western Palearctic, India, and the Neotropics. And you can also contribute to expanding its sound database by taking sound recordings, uploading them, and tagging any species that are audible in the recordings.

You can download Merlin here.