Trivia Tuesday: Mimicry

Birds of many different families mimic the sounds they hear around them.  Blue jays give a perfect rendition of the call of a hawk, which as sent me running to the window with my binoculars more than once.

Crows have been heard to imitate the whine of a dog, the cry of a child, the squawk of a hen and the crowing of a young rooster. The little Carolina wren has been reported to sing the songs of twelve different bird species.

Perhaps the champions of mimicry in North America are the mockingbirds, who have been recorded imitating 55 other species of birds in one hour. Gray catbirds have not only perfected imitations of a variety of birds, but have also been known to imitate their flight pattern.

European starlings have perfected double mimicry, giving the cry of the northern flicker and then drumming on wood. In captivity, they can even be taught to whistle and articulate words. One clever starling in England performed such a perfect imitation of a ringing telephone, that the householder came in from the garden to answer it.

There are some 50 Australian bird species that mimic. The spotted bowerbird imitates the crying of cats, barking of dogs, wood-chopping and many other sounds. It’s imitations of the calls of an eagle are so precise that it has caused a hen and her chicks to run for shelter.