The Corvid family of birds -- jays, ravens, magpies, rooks, jackdaws, crows -- are masters of mimicry, of other birds and human sounds.
Apparently, Corvids can form mental associations between sounds and the circumstances in which they are heard.
A team of field biologists was rousted from its sleep by a whistled reveille -- only to discover it was from a cage of pet jays, not their supervisor. A tame raven named Macaw greeted is keepers with "hello macaw," in imitation of their greeting to it.
Animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz had a pet raven that would imitate its own name in a mock human voice -- speaking words to a human in the right context.
Another lab raven learned the word to call him to a meal, and repeated it to his mate at the appropriate time.
Captive Eurasian jays scolded biologist Derek Goodwin with words and whistles they had learned from him -- and bark like a dog or meow like a cat when those animals ran through their yard.
I once heard a Steller's Jay in my Northern California back yard give perfect imitations of a red-tailed hawk's scream and a grosbeak's warble, followed by chuckles and the jay's own squawk.
Apparently, Corvids can form mental associations between sounds and the circumstances in which they are heard.
A team of field biologists was rousted from its sleep by a whistled reveille -- only to discover it was from a cage of pet jays, not their supervisor. A tame raven named Macaw greeted is keepers with "hello macaw," in imitation of their greeting to it.
Animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz had a pet raven that would imitate its own name in a mock human voice -- speaking words to a human in the right context.
Another lab raven learned the word to call him to a meal, and repeated it to his mate at the appropriate time.
Captive Eurasian jays scolded biologist Derek Goodwin with words and whistles they had learned from him -- and bark like a dog or meow like a cat when those animals ran through their yard.
I once heard a Steller's Jay in my Northern California back yard give perfect imitations of a red-tailed hawk's scream and a grosbeak's warble, followed by chuckles and the jay's own squawk.
