Maryland Mockingbirds Are Strange...

[arwalden]

... there are several that live near my house that have learned to sing the same "tune" that they've heard sung by car alarms and cell phone ringing.

This morning I was outside washing the truck and thought I heard my cell phone ringing inside. So rushed inside to discover that the "ringing" sound that I heard was actually coming from OUTSIDE... way up in a tree. :eyes:

Even though I haven't actually SEEN which birds are imitating car alarms and digital phone ringing sounds... I'm pretty sure it's mockingbirds.

Am I going nuts? Is it my imagination? Have I just never noticed that there are birds that NATURALLY sing songs that happen to sound like those things?

Weird, huh? (Thanks for reading this post.)

-- Allen

[terrya]

1. That is strange.

One wouldn't think that they would imitate manmade noises such as cell phone rings or car alarms.

Odd indeed...

T

[Zuni]

2. now that is very strange

but I think animals in Maryland are naturally superior to their brethren in the other states, just like the people

[MuseRider]

3. I have one

that calls one of my horses in for me. It has learned to mock me calling her in.

[Misunderestimator]

4. I had a pair of mockingbirds at my house in FL who did exactly that.

The cell phone part at least... I changed my ringer so that it was distinguishable. Fortunately, they never picked up on that one, but they had my house phone down pat. Amazing birds.

[ewagner]

5. This is the second instance

I've heard of where Mocking Birds imitate car alarms. The Mocking birds outside my son's apartment in Tallahassee are doing the same thing.....he's resorted to throwing things at them to get them to shut up.....

[Elidor]

6. There's one here that does that

Cycles through about ten different alarm sounds. It's neat.

[marions ghost]

7. I used to have an alarm clock

in the windowsill. In summer when the window was open the mockingbird would sit outside the window and imitate the alarm clock exactly. In early morning stupor it was hard to tell whether to get up or not.

[bertha katzenengel]

8. I have heard of that, but never yet out here.

In So. California many mockingbirds sing car alarms. It's kind of sad, but kind of a crack up, too.

They're mockingbirds. They mock!

I LOVE mockingbirds... :7

[arwalden]

9. I Agree... It's Sad And Funny At The Same Time

After all... who *really* wants to hear MORE car alarms instead of a happy bird song?

[bertha katzenengel]

11. No kidding!

Allen, are you able to feed birds where you live? We put out a new kind of bird seed and were rewarded for the first time with red wing blackbirds! We also get goldfinches, house finches, white-throated sparrows, Carolina wrens, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and indigo buntings.

I'm off to see if DU has a Birder's group...

[Goldeneye]

10. They're mimics,

(belong to family mimidae) like thrashers and cat birds. I think its pretty cool. Thrashers make some of the weirdest noises...but I don't think they pick up cell phone ring tones.