Mockingbirds are known for their incredible ability to mimic sounds, including the songs of other birds, animal noises, and even mechanical sounds. Their scientific name, Mimus polyglottos, literally means “many-tongued mimic”, referring to this talent. But can they really mimic something as jarring and abrasive as a car alarm? Let’s take a closer look at the mockingbird’s vocal talents and their ability to replicate unpleasant mechanical sounds.
The Mockingbird’s Talent for Mimicry
Mockingbirds have a highly complex vocal repertoire and can memorize and reproduce an astonishing variety of sounds. A single mockingbird can mimic up to 200 different songs and sounds! Their mimicking ability develops gradually after their first year. As juveniles, they stick to simpler song patterns from their parents and neighboring birds. But as they grow older, they expand their vocal range by incorporating sounds from their environment, including other bird species, insects, amphibians, mammals, and even mechanical noises.
Researchers have documented mockingbirds imitating sounds like camera shutters, car horns, bells, squeaky gates, and cell phone ringtones. The more diverse sounds they are exposed to in their habitat, the more creative and extensive their mimicking becomes. Urban and suburban mockingbirds tend to have larger repertoires than rural ones simply because they are surrounded by more artificial noises like car alarms, sirens, and cell phones. They selectively incorporate the novel sounds they hear into their own songs to impress potential mates.
Ability to Mimic Unpleasant Mechanical Sounds
Mockingbirds do seem capable of incorporating harsh mechanical sounds like car alarms into their vocalizations. Their ability to mimic does not seem to be limited by how pleasant or musical a sound is. Here are some examples of mockingbirds mimicking mechanical noises:
- In 2014, a Texan mockingbird made local news for his extremely realistic imitations of cell phone ringtones, car alarms, and construction equipment. Residents remarked how jarring and irritating the noises were until they realized it was a talented mimic.
- In Florida, a mockingbird in a supermarket parking lot learned to imitate the beeping sound shopping carts make when taken out of the corral. He would perch on light posts and make the beeping sounds, confusing shoppers.
- Mockingbirds in urban areas often incorporate car alarms, sirens, and squeaky gates into their songs. Researchers in Mexico City recorded one mockingbird that could mimic the complex pattern of a car alarm perfectly.
Based on these accounts, mockingbirds certainly seem capable of replicating car alarms and other unpleasant mechanical sounds precisely. Like parrots, they are considered “sound mimics” that can recreate sounds without necessarily understanding them. Their only motivation seems to be to incorporate novel sounds into their song repertoire to impress mates or assert their territory.
Challenges of Mimicking Car Alarms
However, there are some limitations that make mimicking a car alarm more challenging than other mechanical sounds:
- Car alarms have a very broad frequency range, from low-pitched honking to extremely high and shrill alarm sounds. Mockingbirds have a more limited vocal range. The highest parts of a car alarm may be inaudible to them or impossible to duplicate.
- Car alarms often have a pattern of alternating different sounds and frequencies. Mockingbirds would need to perfectly memorize and coordinate the sequence of sounds.
- Many car alarms incorporate verbal speech like “Warning!” or “Unauthorized entry detected”. Mockingbirds cannot mimic speech sounds.
- Car alarms are designed to be very loud. Mockingbirds cannot match their full volume, although they may come close in short bursts.
So while mockingbirds can mimic simple car alarm sounds like honking, perfect replication of a complex modern car alarm is probably beyond their abilities. They seem limited to mimicking short segments rather than the full, complicated sequence.
Mockingbird Hearing Ability
Another key factor is that mockingbirds may not even be capable of hearing the full range of a car alarm in order to mimic it. Here are some details on mockingbird hearing:
- Mockingbirds can hear frequencies up to around 11 kHz, according to some estimates.
- Human hearing ranges from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. So mockingbirds do not hear the highest pitched sounds we can detect.
- Car alarms often incorporate very high frequency sounds above 15 or 20 kHz that are unpleasant to humans but act as deterrents to animals.
- Since mockingbirds likely cannot even detect those extreme high frequencies, mimicking them would be impossible.
In summary, mockingbirds can likely hear the mid-range car alarm sounds in the 2-8 kHz range and possibly up to 11 kHz. But the highest squeals and deterrent frequencies are inaudible to their ears, preventing them from incorporating those tones into their mimicry.
Conclusions
Based on their documented ability to recreate other artificial sounds, mockingbirds certainly can mimic some components of car alarms like honking patterns, squeaking, and lower-frequency sounds. However, perfect replication of the more complex sequence of modern car alarms is likely beyond their cognitive and vocal abilities. Physical limitations on their hearing also prevent them from detecting and mimicking the highest-pitched deterrent tones.
In brief:
- Mockingbirds excel at mimicking simpler sounds in their environment like bells, squeaky gates, and cell phone ringtones.
- They can partially recreate sounds with moderate complexity like some car alarm noises.
- Accurately mimicking an entire modern multi-tone, high-decibel car alarm exceeds their mimicry capacities.
So while mockingbirds are certainly talented mimics, car alarms present some challenges beyond their vocal skills. Their mimicry of car alarms is likely to be partial at best, lacking the highest frequencies and full complexity. But we should still admire the remarkable variety of sounds that mockingbirds incorporate into their vocal repertoires!
References
Derrickson, K.C. (1988). Variation in repertoire presentation in Northern Mockingbirds. The Condor, 90(3), 592-606. doi:10.2307/1368541
Gammon, D.E. and Altizer, C.E. (2011). Northern Mockingbirds produce learned vocalizations and associate specific call types with relevant stimuli. Journal of Field Ornithology, 82(1), 67-74. doi:10.1111/j.1557-9263.2010.00318.x
Kroodsma, D. and Konishi, M. (1991). A suboscine bird (eastern phoebe, Sayornis phoebe) develops normal song without auditory feedback. Animal Behaviour, 42(3), 477-487. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80047-8
Markowitz, J.E., Ivie, E., Kligler, L., and Gardner, T.J. (2013). Long-range order in canary song. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(5), e1003052. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003052
Sorjonen, J. (1986). Factors affecting the structure of song and the singing behaviour of some northern European passerine birds. Behaviour, 98(1), 286-304. doi:10.1163/156853986X00619
Wiley, R.H. (2006). Signal detection and animal communication. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 36, 217-247. doi:10.1016/S0065-3454(06)36005-7
