# Birdsong and car alarms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130 "2014-05-10T16:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/1 "2014-05-10T16:43:19Z")
You know that really annoying multi-tone sound that some car alarms make? The one that goes [WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh, tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo tschyoo-tschyoo, BYyooo BYyooo BYyooo BYyooo BYyooo, Boooo-eeeep, Boooo-eeeep, hhrrrkkkk hhrrrkkkk hhrrrkkkk hhrrrkkkk hhrrrkkkk hhrrrkkkk, WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh WEEE-oooh etc.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRH7ddY1aHo) – that one. For the last few days, a bird in a tree outside my window has been singing that _exact same tone_, over and over again. I swear, I’m not on anything! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/2 "2014-05-10T16:51:06Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > For the last few days, a bird in a tree outside my window has been singing that _exact same tone_, over and over again. I swear, I’m not on anything! I think some birds – think mockingbird/catbird family – are capable of learning and repeating sounds much like parrots. I used to hear one close by who ran through a litany of vastly different sounds in the night, and one of them was just like a VW horn. I heard it enough times and from the right direction that I’m pretty sure it was the bird, not a VW. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/3 "2014-05-10T17:00:56Z")
Yeah, [Northern mockingbirds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mockingbird) mimic various environmental sounds, from other bird calls to car alarms. The real champ at this is the Superb lyrebird from south eastern Australia. [See?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y) ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/4 "2014-05-10T17:01:02Z")
Yeah, mockingbirds can and do do that. They are remarkable mimics. I once heard one from about 30 yards making the sound of a distant raptor like an eagle, complete with echoes. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/5 "2014-05-10T17:43:07Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > The real champ at this is the Superb lyrebird from south eastern Australia. [See?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y) That’s pretty amazing. But it makes me wonder, how does that type of mimicry confer an evolutionary advantage? Unless the bird knows something I don’t, that car ain’t puttin’ out. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/6 "2014-05-10T18:22:25Z")
He’s doing it for the females (and other males) in the area. The larger the repertoire of sounds, the higher on the ladder he is. At the University of Florida football field, I’d often hear them imitating the referees’ whistles… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/7 "2014-05-10T19:26:52Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think some birds – think mockingbird/catbird family – are capable of learning and repeating sounds much like parrots. Don’t recall what they are but Beaumont, Texas, has an entire flock that sounds like car alarms. Very weird when I first visited there. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdsong-and-car-alarms/688130/8 "2014-05-11T03:34:31Z")
One that lived outside my college apartment sounded like a rusty gate.