Do you remember when Tweets were posts from your backyard? While you were watching the Ed Sullivan show and putting together your baseball card collection, the birds were practicing their own variety show performances outside your window. From car alarms to cat calls, these talented birds show us that there are unexpected covers and remixes of nature's playlist.
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Check PriceThe Northern Mockingbird: Your Local Neighborhood DJ
Think of a late-night radio DJ in your neighborhood. Now, picture that as a Northern Mockingbird. These DJ's wannabes can learn and imitate up to 200 songs and sounds. This includes other bird species and even the squeaking sound of gates and car alarms. The best part is, they do this at midnight! Mockingbirds teach us that some of nature's best entertainment is available to us when Johnny Carson goes off the air!
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Blue Jays: The Feathered Tricksters Hawk Imitators
Think of the Blue Jays at your bird feeder like the class clowns, but with an Alfred Hitchcock spin. These cunning, free-spirited thieves have learned the art of trickery and deception. They imitate the call of a Red-tailed Hawk and cause the smaller birds to vacate the area so they can do as they please. It’s something like a feathered version of that neighborhood kid who always rang the doorbell and ran.
European Starlings: Nature's Mimickers of Car Alarms
Starlings can copy many sounds, including police sirens, car beeps, and phone ringtones. They are some of the best imitators in the animal kingdom. In the same period that car alarms were becoming common in suburbia, they were already imitating sirens. So the next time you hear a car alarm, it may actually be a starling in disguise!
Brown Thrasher: The Backyard Bird With A 1,000 Song Repertoire
The Brown Thrasher remembers every song just like that one friend who knows every jingle from TV commercials in the 60s. These songbirds have over a thousand different melodies, way more than your old rusty vinyl collection. To make sure you heard all the notes, they have a few songs that they repeat twice.
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Catbirds: Experts in Meowing
Want to take a guess as to which bird species first confused you when trying to identify the sound? You probably thought a cat was stuck in the woods. Catbirds make an annoying sound that even a cat like Morris would be deceived by. They also have a charming meow sound like those used in Meow Mix commercials.
American Crow: The Bird That Could Possibly Outperform You at Mimicking Human Speech
While the focus was on the parrots, the backyard Einsteins were quietly picking up how to talk to humans. Wild American Crows can mimic words, and say them with some pretty clear speech. The only difference is that these types of crows are a little more picky than your chatty aunt at Sunday dinner. In fact, some of these crows can mimic a child screaming “Mom!”
Yellow-Breasted Chat: an R2-D2 sound effect artist in nature
Long before George Lucas brought R2-D2 to life, the Yellow-breasted Chat was already doing its sound effects concert in America’s backyards. These backyard entertainers incorporate whistles, rattles, and electronic beeps into their songs, producing a sound track you might find in a sci-fi movie. What a way to have your own special effects department right in the shrubbery!
Eastern Screech-Owl: The Ventriloquist of the Woods
When looking at this little owl, you may think of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy shows, but this owl can do more than any ventriloquist. The little owl's trademark trill is just the beginning of \ \their \ \deceptive \ \skills. They can impersonate woodpeckers and whip-poor-wills too. These little owls show that nature's best things come in little, mysterious packages.
Common Grackle: Bird Stealer of Other Birds' Greatest Hits
Similar to your typical cover band at the county fair, the Common Grackle has built a reputation for hawking the tunes of others. These opportunistic little birds can put on a show imitating Blue Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds, and many more, putting together their very own avian mixtape! It's like listening to an old, cheap radio where you never know what station you're on.
American Robin: The Conductor of the Dawn Chorus with Surprises
Your red-breasted friend has been waking you up since the Eisenhower administration. On your porch, they sing a song that sounds like “cheer up” and imitate calls of other birds. This alters melodies and creates one-of-a-kind original works like your grandma's secret recipes. Nature's alarm clock and the most versatile early morning entertainer!
