Birdsong for the
Curious Naturalist

European starling

Chapter 5: More about Song Learning
Subchapter: Mimicry
From page 76 in the book.

♫343. An eastern bird, mimicking eastern species. Most remarkable to me is the section from 0:13 to 0:17 when he simultaneously mimics an eastern phoebe and northern flicker by using his two voice boxes. More details in the book's text. April 30, 2014. Atlanta, Michigan. (0:51)

♫344. A western bird, mimicking western species (again, details on how to listen are in the book's text). June 10, 2009. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Burns, Oregon. (0:42)

♫345. Model for long-billed curlew, an imitation of which occurs at 0:01 and 0:22 in the Oregon starling (above). June 12, 2009. Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Lima, Montana. (0:12)

♫346. Nestling starling. How noisy, how unlikely that so refined an adult song could arise from such clamor! In this recording hear the adult fly to the nest for a feeding; begging then subsides after the adult has departed. May 13, 2004. Rosedale, Virginia. (1:07)