8 - Masters of vocal mimicry
Bird song is a species-specific, unique sequence of sounds. Besides the common starling many species like to "borrow" from the songs of others and imitate them to a masterly level.being masters of vocal mimicry.
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
The name of this bird has a good reason: its song is a sequence of various imitations, borrowing sounds from many species. Repetition plays a key role in its ”performance”: each phrase is repeated two or three times, then comes a new theme, reprised, of course, and another melody follows. Song thrush sings almost continuously for minutes, repeating a favoured phrase every now and then. Due to its distinctive singing, this species can be easily identified even by novice birders. It lives in shrubs and forests with dense undergrowth, but also in urban environments and parks.
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
This corvid bird is a real master of vocal mimicry. Its characteristic loud jeer is used mainly as a distress call, which is noticed not only by its fellow crows but by all the inhabitants of the forest.. We might call this bird a sentinel of forest. Like the other corvids, jay is a very intelligent and docile bird, tends to copy sounds from its environment. It often imitates the sharp mew of the common buzzard or the croaking of crows. Its diverse repertoire contains almost every imaginable sound. It can imitate the sounds of a whistle or a chainsaw realistically. Imitation of dog barking or the bleating of sheep is not a problem for the jay at all.
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
Scrubs and hedges with spiny bushes like dog rose, blackthorn and hawthorn provide the main habitats for this bird. The male mostly sings is quiet but variegated song from the top of a bush, taking sounds from other birds in his environment, too. In case of danger it reacts with a loud and harsh call then quickly vanishes into the thicket of bushes.
Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris)
The marsh warbler is a typical bird of riverside tall-herb vegetations and reed beds. Its long, varied trilling song actually consists of mimics, imitating the song of the birds in its environment (e. g. starling, western yellow wagtail, barn swallow, sparrow). Even some phrases from African birds are included. This characteristic song can be heard in wetlands from May onwards. By the end of summer our feathered singer already moves on towards its wintering sites in Africa.