Mimicry is the ability to imitate sounds, especially in songbirds. There are a number of songbird species that are excellent mimics and can replicate a wide variety of sounds from their environment. Mimicry is useful to songbirds for purposes such as defending territory, attracting mates, avoiding predators, and expanding their repertoire of songs. Some of the most skilled mimic songbirds include mockingbirds, lyrebirds, mynas, starlings, and parrots.
What is mimicry in birds?
Mimicry refers to the ability of some birds to imitate sounds they hear in their environment. This can include the songs of other bird species, animal sounds, mechanical sounds, and even human speech. Mimicry requires specialized neural control over the vocal organs as well as excellent auditory memory in order to accurately reproduce complex sounds. Some birds are better mimics than others due to adaptations in their vocal anatomy. Mimicry is used by birds for various reasons depending on the species.
Why do some birds mimic sounds?
There are several hypotheses for why certain birds mimic sounds:
- Defending territory – Mimicking other birds or predators may help scare off intruders
- Attracting mates – Some female birds prefer males with larger repertoires including mimicked sounds
- Avoiding predators – Mimicking dangerous species may deter predators
- Social interaction – Some species use mimicry as a form of communication with others in their groups
- Expanding song repertoire – Mimicry allows some birds to greatly expand their vocabulary of songs and calls
The reasons birds mimic can vary across species but those listed above are some of the most commonly proposed explanations for avian mimicry abilities. The mockinbird, for example, is known to mimic other birds to defend its territory.
Top Mimic Songbirds
There are a number of songbird species that are excellent mimics. Some of the most skilled vocal copycat birds include:
Mockingbirds
Mockingbirds are one of the most well-known mimics. They can imitate over 200 different species of birds along with other sounds like car alarms, barking dogs, and even musical instruments. Northern Mockingbirds in particular are highly skilled mimics. Mimicry is used by mockingbirds to defend their nesting territories from other birds.
Lyrebirds
Lyrebirds are songbirds native to Australia that are famous for their elaborate mimcry skills. The Superb Lyrebird can imitate a massive range of sounds including other bird calls, camera shutters, car engines, chainsaws, and even human-made music. Male lyrebirds sing elaborate songs incorporating mimicked sounds when displaying to females.
Gray Catbirds
Gray Catbirds are medium-sized songbirds found throughout much of North America. Their name comes from their cat-like mewing calls. Catbirds are proficient mimics, imitating over 100 species including other birds, frogs, and mechanical sounds. They often mimic sounds in sequences to form long, complex songs when defending territories.
Northern Mockingbirds
As mentioned earlier, Northern Mockingbirds are one of the most versatile mimics. Their ability to copy sounds is so great that individual mockingbirds may accumulate repertoires of over 200 different stolen songs throughout their lifetimes. Both male and female mockingbirds mimic as part of territorial displays.
Indian Hill Mynas
Indian Hill Mynas are an invasive species of myna now established in many parts of the world. They are expert mimics and can reproduce sounds like flushing toilets, squeaking gates, and human words and phrases. The myna’s ability to mimic speech has made it popular as a pet in some countries. Mimicry in mynas may help facilitate communication between individuals.
European Starlings
European Starlings are prolific mimics and incorporate imitated sounds into their repertoire of songs, calls, and whistles. Starlings often mimic other bird species found near their territory as well as mechanical sounds like car alarms and telephones ringing. Male starlings may use mimicry to assert dominance and impress females.
Australian Magpies
Australian Magpies are highly territorial birds well known for their impressive mimicking ability. They can imitate over 35 species of native birds as well as exotic species in captivity. Magpies may mimic noisy species like butcherbirds to deter them from their territory. Both males and females mimic but males tend to have larger repertoires.
Parrots
Many parrot species are excellent mimics owing to their vocal abilities. African gray parrots, budgerigars, and cockatiels are especially skilled mimics. Wild parrots mimic to communicate with flock members and defend resources. Parrots raised in captivity often learn to mimic human speech. Their cognitive skills allow parrots to associate mimicked words with meaning.
How Songbirds Mimic Sound
Mimicry requires specialized physical traits and behaviors in birds. Here are some of the ways songbirds are able to accurately mimic sounds:
- Advanced vocal organ anatomy – Mimics have well-developed vocal organs like the syrinx and larynx
- Vocal plasticity – Their vocal organs can produce a wide range of sounds
- Mimicry brain regions – Parts of their brains are dedicated to learning and mimicking sounds
- Auditory memory – They have excellent memories for sounds allowing accurate mimicry
- Social interaction – They learn sounds in social contexts with parents and others
- Motor learning – They gradually perfect their mimicry through repetition and practice
Having advanced vocal anatomy, specialized brain regions, and cognitive abilities enables the most skilled mimics like mockingbirds and lyrebirds to accurately reproduce intricate sounds from their environment. Mimicry starts at a young age and improves with time and learning.
Anatomy Involved in Mimicry
The syrinx and larynx are two key vocal organs that allow mimicking birds to make a huge range of sounds.
The syrinx is located at the junction between the trachea and bronchi and contains sound-producing membranes. Muscles controlling the syrinx allow birds to produce two sounds simultaneously, which is key for mimicry.
The larynx sits just above the syrinx and also contributes to sound modification and mimicry, much like the larynx in humans.
These vocal organs along with the vocal tract and beak cavity give birds superb control over their vocalizations and allow them to mimic elaborate sounds.
Neural Control of Mimicry
Learning and performing mimicry requires highly specialized regions of the avian brain. Key brain regions involved in vocal mimicry include:
- Nidopallium – Involved in sound processing and auditory memory
- Arcopallium – Associated with song learning and auditory recognition
- Robust nucleus of the arcopallium – Plays a key role in controlling vocal mimicry
- HVC – Important for song learning and production
Experiments have shown that damaging the robust nucleus of the arcopallium in young, vocally-adept songbirds significantly impairs their ability to mimic sounds. This demonstrates the essential role this brain region plays in vocal mimicry in songbirds.
Mimicry Variation Across Species
While many songbirds possess some ability to mimic, some species are far better at vocal mimicry than others. There is much variation between species in terms of mimicry ability.
Number of Sounds Mimicked
Northern mockinbirds have enormous mimicry repertoires while catbirds mimic around 100 different sounds. Budgerigars can mimic human speech but only a limited vocabulary. The lyrebird’s repertoire dwarfs them all with an astounding purity and variety of mimicked sounds.
Quality of Mimicry
Superb lyrebirds and African gray parrots stand out for their ability to mimic sounds with an extremely high degree of accuracy. Other skilled mimics like mockingbirds make very convincing copies. Lesser mimics like European starlings capture the general essence of sounds but may miss some of the fine details.
Variation Within Species
There can also be significant variation between individuals of the same species. The size of different mockingbirds’ mimicry repertoire can range from just a few common sounds to over 200 different mimicked sounds. Individual talents likely has to do with auditory memory, vocal ability, and learning.
Use of Mimicry
Species also differ in why and how they use mimicry. Mockingbirds mimic to defend territories while parrots may mimic human speech sounds they are taught in captivity. So the context and purpose of mimicry also varies across species based on their biology and ecology.
Mimicry in Captive Birds
Mimicry is very common among pet birds since they are exposed to human speech from an early age. Some captive birds become excellent mimics through social interaction with humans who inadvertently teach mimicry.
Parrots
Many parrot species mimic human speech when kept as pets including budgerigars, cockatoos, Amazon parrots, and African gray parrots. They associate mimicked words with meaning and can learn large vocabularies. Greys may learn hundreds of words and phrases.
Mynas
Indian hill mynas and common hill mynas mimic speech proficiently in captivity. Their intelligent mimicking ability has made mynas popular pets in parts of Asia. Mynas can contextually use words and phrases they learn from owners.
Starlings
Starlings mimic speech less clearly than parrots but can mimic simple words and sounds like telephone rings. Pet starlings bond with owners and may learn to mimic aspects of human speech like laughter.
Mockingbirds
Mockingbirds mimic sounds in their environment so they will attempt mimicking speech sounds if kept as pets, although not as proficiently as parrots. Their strong territorial instincts make mockingbirds less suitable pets than mynas or parrots.
Crows
Although not songbirds, crows and ravens can learn to mimic human speech and other sounds if hand-raised. However, their speech mimicry is significantly more limited compared to talented mimics like parrots and mynas.
Historical Examples of Avian Mimics
There are many historical reports dating back hundreds of years of birds demonstrating incredible mimicry abilities. Some well-known examples include:
Mozart’s Starling
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a pet European starling from 1784-1787 that mimicked parts of his piano concertos. He wrote a song called “A Little Joke” poking fun at the starling’s mimicked motifs.
Alex the Parrot
Alex the African gray parrot participated in a 30 year language study at Harvard and learned a vocabulary of over 100 English words. He could identify objects, colors, shapes, and materials through mimicry-based speech.
Prudhoe the Budgie
A budgerigar named Prudhoe lived in London in the 1890s and mimicked human speech with a vocabulary of over 500 words. He performed for audiences across England with his impressive mimicry skills.
Jack the Lyrebird
A Superb Lyrebird named Jack mimicked the sounds of logging machinery so accurately that workers thought the machines were still running after shutting them off. His territory was located near a logging site in Australia.
These examples help illustrate how skilled wild and captive birds have been at mimicking a wide variety of sounds for hundreds of years. Their vocal talents never cease to amaze.
Conclusion
Many species of songbirds have evolved the ability to mimic sounds with varying degrees of accuracy and repertoire size. Mockingbirds, lyrebirds, starlings, mynas, magpies, and parrots are among the most skilled vocal mimics. Mimicry provides advantages like deterring competition, attracting mates, avoiding predators, and expanding vocalizations. Specialized brain structures give mimics precise control over their vocal organs to reproduce sounds. Some mimics like the lyrebird stand out for their phenomenal ability to mimic an enormous variety of intricate sounds with precision. Looking at examples of prolific mimics throughout history provides glimpses into the impressive extent of songbirds’ mimicry abilities.
