Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: amused

Starlings sound whiny!

Several starlings are fighting over the suet cage today. 

"Tseee!  TseeeEEEEEE!  "Ssssss!"  "SQUEEEE-tseeeeee..."

They have squeaky, whiny, squabbly little voices ... like a cranky toddler crossed with a radiator.  They sound like they are losing pressure.  I am relatively certain that this is not the case, as they are getting madder and madder out there, pecking and flapping and generally throwing a fit.
Tags: birdfeeding, illinois, nature, personal, wildlife
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  • 5 comments
dragonmyst

dragonmyst

February 22 2010, 00:53:01 UTC 11 years ago

My mom rescued several starlings and hand raised them. The have bonded to her. One of them, Gigi, does a perfect R2D2. I'm serious. Dad was on a Star Wars Battlefield kick while Gigi was still small and the bird picked up the sounds of R2D2 and he/she (I don't know what it is) also say several phrases like "What's up" and "Whatcha doin".

They are a riot.
ysabetwordsmith

Wow!

ysabetwordsmith

February 22 2010, 00:56:53 UTC 11 years ago

I did not know that starlings could do such things. 0_o
dragonmyst

Re: Wow!

dragonmyst

February 22 2010, 01:52:20 UTC 11 years ago

They are related to Myna(sp?) birds and will emulate sounds heard. If raised by humans they pick up speech patterns. My mother also has a one-eyed/one legged blue-jay that rings like a telephone.

I found a whole bunch of youtube videos with talking starlings. They are quite funny. I thought my mom had a vid up of hers talking. If I find it I'll share it with you. It is really trippy.

ysabetwordsmith

Re: Wow!

ysabetwordsmith

February 22 2010, 02:02:59 UTC 11 years ago

I have heard of a bluejay emulating a telephone before, yes.
synnabar

synnabar

February 22 2010, 15:41:56 UTC 11 years ago

I love Starlings! I love to hear them talk, and I like their bright beaks and stubby little butts. I love to hear them chatting the trees, too, especially their "weeeeEEEeeeeeeooooooooo" sound. XD