Unusual Bird Sound - I Think

[joko]

I was driving late one night about 2am & i saw a bird in the road, but i didnt know it was a bird until it suddenly flew away as it was a dark colour, it was night, & theres no street lamps on that road.
it was quite large & as i passed i heard a loud 'clacking' sound.

- like if you got 2 pebbles and banged them together  fast & loud, about 5 times
Its wasnt in anyway a cheep, chirrup, tweet or hoot.

its not a woodpecker

I dont think ive ever heard it, but it made me think of sounds in tropical rain forest type noises, so just curious what it could be?
i wondered if someone had lost a pet bird?

any ideas?

thanks :)

 

[ladybirder]

Was it  Nightjar?

[ladybirder]

Here's a picture.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/all-about-nightjars

[barry1010]

A stonechat makes a sound like marbles clacking together but they are small birds.

What sort of shape was it?  Streamlined like a bird of prey or plumply rounded like a game bird?

[Buenchico]

We've got some kookaburras living here in Suffolk:

[joko]

thanks all, i checked all mentioned & i dont think it was any of them :(
It was a dark colour probably all brown, it wasnt a heron.

I am assuming it was this bird, but it may have been a different one.

could it have been another animal?
I was driving past an ordinary park with lots of trees etc
thanks :)

 

[ToraToraTora]

This bird crapped on my car once....not talking her out again.

[Togo]

It was probably a Pheasant. The females are all brown and like to cross the road playing chicken.  

[jourdain2]

I'd go for a pheasant, like Togo.  They are all over the roads here at the moment and we've nearly removed the tail-feathers  of a couple of females once or twice as they are much the same  colour as that of the muddy road.  The noise they make is also hard and sharp.

[melv16]

I'm with Togo on this one, it's probably a female pheasant. 

[Buenchico]

Click the 'Alarm call' tab here to play what you might have heard:
https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/pheasant/?type1617

[Old_Geezer]

Probably trying to escape from the pheasant plucker.

[Maydup]

If not a pheasant a partridge maybe. 
 

Can I ask about the environment? Farmland? Parkland? Suburbs? Mountainous? Wetlands? 

[juliecarlstan]

Crow? not a raven, but american crows can get pretty big and their caw is grating...

[Chipchopper]

My first thoughts were a nightjar also, then I thought maybe a night heron, but I could be clutching at straws.

Maybe some domestic escapee like a peafowl etc ?

[Chipchopper]

Possibly a stonechat, but it seems unlikely

[1ozzy]

//If not a pheasant a partridge maybe//

I'd guess not, doesn't a partridge live in a pear tree?