Birds aren't all singing the same song. They have dialects, too

[Judi Lynn]

By Julia Hollingsworth, CNN

Updated 8:22 PM ET, Sat June 13, 2020

(CNN)Laura Molles is so attuned to birds that she can tell where birds of some species are from just by listening to their song.

She's not a real-world Dr Doolittle. She's an ecologist in Christchurch, New Zealand, who specializes in a little-known area of science: bird dialects.

While some birds are born knowing how to sing innately, many need to be taught how to sing by adults -- just like humans. Those birds can develop regional dialects, meaning their songs sound slightly different depending on where they live. Think Boston and Georgia accents, but for birds.

Just as speaking the local language can make it easier for humans to fit in, speaking the local bird dialect can increase a bird's chances of finding a mate. And, more ominously, just as human dialects can sometimes disappear as the world globalizes, bird dialects can be shaped or lost as cities grow.

More:
https://us.cnn.com/2020/06/13/asia/bird-dialects-song-intl-hnk/index.html

[soothsayer]

1. I swear to you that birds in France have a French accent

I’m not kidding.

[Skittles]

2. at work a guy accidentally set off his car alarm

he turned it off but was puzzled when it went off again...turns out it was a mockingbird doing an excellent imitation

[donco]

3. I have a mocking bird

in the neighborhood that thinks he/she is a cell phone.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Interesting.

Although I'm not all that surprised.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Seeing comments reminded me of having heard about lyrebirds, possibly right here at D.U.:

[Buckeye_Democrat]

6. What's still interesting to me is my Vietnamese-American...

... friend, who moved to the USA about 40 years ago and can speak English pretty well (as expected after so much time here), but he can't differentiate dialects at all!

He asked me what "redneck" meant one day, and I tried to explain. Then I started imitating a strong Southern accent too, and I asked him if he ever heard people talk like that? He asked what I meant.

Long story short, I soon learned that he couldn't differentiate American accents at all! I was even doing very exaggerated accents sometimes. He could always tell me what I said, but it never sounded any different to him how I said it!

It was so interesting to me!