starlings are quite talented mimics of the human voice, too. one long-term
experiment along these lines (and also a glimpse into the psychology of
these birds) is the delightful and fascinating book, "Arnie, the darling
starling" by Margaret Sigl Corbo.


On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 10:11 PM, Kelly Cassidy <highsteppe at icloud.com>
wrote:

> Starlings seem especially adept at 2 or three note, relatively simple
> calls. They sometimes do a good copy of California Quail in my yard. When
> I lived in Seattle, it was disconcerting to hear "wigeons" calling from
> their perches on the utility wires.
>
>
>
> Kelly Cassidy
> Pullman, WA
>
> On Jan 5, 2016, at 12:06 PM, Tucker, Trileigh <TRI at seattleu.edu> wrote:
>
> Michael,
>
> I?ve been fooled by those guys, I?m embarrassed to say. Unless there was a
> Bald Eagle flying over our rental house at the same altitude and location
> every single time we happened to be over there, it must have been the
> starlings who roost in the nearby tree.
>
> Good birding,
> Trileigh
>
> *~ ~ ~ ~ ~*
> *Trileigh Tucker*
> *Pelly Valley, West Seattle*
> *Natural history blog: **naturalpresence
> <http://naturalpresencearts.com>arts.com <http://naturalpresencearts.com>*
> *Photography: flickr.com/photos/trileigh
> <http://flickr.com/photos/trileigh>*
>
> From: Michael Brown <michael at flycatcherfile.com>
> Date: Monday, January 4, 2016 at 7:51 PM
> To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Starling Mimicry
>
> Hey,
>
> I recently heard what I think was a Starling mimicking a Bald Eagle. I did
> not actually see the Starling, and there was an eagle in the vicinity. I
> heard the call, and first thought BAEA. But then I realized it sounded
> "off." It had that Starling quality to it. Am I crazy, or is this possible?
>
> Michael Brown
> Puyallup, WA
> michael at flycatcherfile dot com
>
> *Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID*
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> _______________________________________________
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>


--
GrrlScientist
Devorah Bennu, PhD
birdologist at gmail.com
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