This is bird note.

As you step outside in late fall for a breath of fresh air,

a searing cry of a red-tailed hawk pierces the air.

The distinctive scream is coming from a tree nearby, but when we scan the tree for the bulky form of a large hawk, we see only a small black bird. It tips its head back, opens its bill, and...

We've been fooled! It's a starling giving voice to the Hawks cry. In fact, the European Starling,

the continent's most abundant non-native bird, is an accomplished mimic. Starlings are especially astute imitators of bird sounds that have a whistled feel,

like this sound of a kill deer,

and this quail.

European Starlings regularly incorporate both into bouts of singing.

They can duplicate a car alarm or a phone ring too.

What adaptive benefit might Starling's gain from copying the sounds of other birds. A leading view argues that by mimicking, a male

starling adds to its song repertoire, making him just that much more attractive to the females than the next male on the branch.

So, the next time you hear a red tail scream,

double check its author,

especially if there are starlings nearby.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.