This Is A Test

This is a test.  For the next two minutes this video will test your ability to identify birds by sound.  This is only a test.

Well, actually it’s a video of mockingbirds singing. Whose songs and calls are they imitating?

Use this quiz to get your ears in shape for birding by ear this spring.  At minimum you’ll remember the mockingbirds’ three-repeat song.

This is only a test.  If there had been an actual blue jay in the video you would have seen him.

(video by grcapro on YouTube)

5 thoughts on “This Is A Test

  1. Boy I am a bit rusty from winter. I couldn’t identify all the calls, but I did hear clearly bluejay, phoebe, robin, grackle and tufted titmouse.

    Gotta love those mockers! 🙂

    1. Did he sing Carolina wren? Or did he make the wren’s warning chatter? Can’t be sure…

  2. Kate, I loved the video! It amazes me how the mockingbird can mimic all those birds’ songs! I believe I also heard a cardinal, and sparrow’s chatter. 🙂

  3. Your readers who are under a certain age (I’d guess that the cutoff is ~50) will have no idea that you are making a joke about the original “this is only a test” of the National Emergency Broadcasting System, or something close to that.

    That disclaimer took me back to my misspent Saturday mornings watching educational TV, such as 3 Stooges, and WB cartoons.

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