Birds that Mimic Sounds

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Jul 16, 2008

We’ve all heard of talking parrots, and mockingbirds that call using the signature song of another species, but how many of us have awakened to the sound of a blackbird pretending to be an ambulance siren? This week, a British couple who live near a UK hospital made the news when they reported a blackbird that visits their garden every morning and sounds off like an incoming emergency. The bird’s call is apparently so loud, and so accurate, that it’s hard to distinguish from the real thing. It can also mimic a wolf-whistle, a car alarm, and a cell phone.

Most of the birds that can copy human speech, or exactly mimic the call of a different species, belong to the passerines, a large group of birds with highly developed vocal structures that includes the songbirds. Mockingbirds, crows, mynas, lyrebirds, bowerbirds, and blackbirds are all passerines. Parrots and toucans are not.

Bowerbirds mimic other birds, various animals, and even mechanical noises; mockingbirds earn their name from their habit of repeating the calls of other birds; lyrebirds can copy birdcalls, wing beats, beak noises, frogs, and mechanical sounds; parrots have intrigued us most with their apparent understanding of human speech.

Why do birds do this? Are they just having fun? Scientists believe that some mimicry in birds is to impress the opposite sex and thereby earn a mate—but they are not sure. While I can imagine that a wailing blackbird would get quite annoying after a while, I think it’s fascinating. I’d love to hear that blackbird.