That's great, because that is very similar to what I was going to say! When I was at Green Lake a couple weeks ago searching for a Eurasian Wigeon (I did not find one), I could have sworn that I heard one of them calling with their distinctive one-note "wheeoo" that sets them apart from Americans. But I had had a feeling in the field that it was, in fact, a nearby starling that I had heard a few minutes earlier, and upon listening to a recording I got, I am now pretty certain that it was the starling doing the call. :)

My video is posted here, with the call near the end: https://www.flickr.com/photos/132642556 at N03/23626176890/

Good birding, Joshua Glant

Mercer Island, WA

Josh(dot)n(dot)glant(at)gmail(dot)com

> On Jan 5, 2016, at 2:11 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: naturalpresencearts.com
>> Photography: 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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