Another episode of slow-motion mouth tunes.

May 5, 2023 11:53 AM

Amazing bird singing. Wait for it ....
posted by dancestoblue (9 comments total)

OK. That was freaky.
posted by Spike Glee at 12:05 PM on May 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

Was that the bird, though? Is there proof that the bird made those sounds? I'm dubious because of how the overlaid text kept telling me how cool it was.
posted by emelenjr at 12:07 PM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's a Eurasian Starling. Very common bird, and one one that you sometimes see in immense murmurations. I believe that, as an invasive species in the US, you can keep them as pets there. I have some nesting in a gap under the eaves above my bedroom. A few years ago we had a local starling that could perfectly mimic a car alarm.
posted by pipeski at 12:34 PM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Reddit is a terrible place to learn things, because any comments with real info gets lost in thousands of silly puns and cultural references. But the video comes from this Instagram account with many more videos of the birb.
posted by bitslayer at 1:12 PM on May 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

I've long been slightly annoyed at the evil clicking sound that every single monster makes in SF/Horror movies. But.... I guess its vaguely accurate?

This is a really great video thanks.
posted by kittensofthenight at 3:57 PM on May 5, 2023

there's been other birds caught making sounds from human activity before, this one doesn't surprise me. for a more reputable source: Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw! Now in high quality | BBC Earth
posted by Clowder of bats at 6:26 PM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

That freaked my cat right out. I imagine his tiny kitty brain was like, "how the F big is that thing?"
posted by fnerg at 6:27 PM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

In case it's not clear, the video switches to slow-motion about 15 seconds in and then returns to regular speed about 5 seconds before the end. That's why it suddenly sounds much deeper and the room sudden seems to have much more reverb.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:10 AM on May 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wait, is this European starling captive?

They are such social birds. I love to see them gather by the thousands on winter evenings and dance through the air together.

If this is a caged bird, it makes this whole thing unappealing, even a bit sad.
posted by vacapinta at 10:01 AM on May 6, 2023