Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw! Now in high quality | BBC Earth
Why Hacker News recommends it
Shared whenever birds mimic sounds come up, as a mind-blowing example of vocal mimicry.
What it is
A short BBC Earth clip from David Attenborough's Life of Birds showing a lyrebird imitating sounds, including a chainsaw and camera shutter, so accurately it is hard to tell from the real thing.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2020 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec Naracion · 2020-09 · on “Crows possess higher intelligence long thought a primarily human attribute”
You might enjoy the superb lyre bird imitating sounds as mind boggling as a chainsaw--and when I say imitate, I mean I couldn't have distinguished the lyre bird sound from a real chainsaw. It's really mind-boggling to me. [this video]
Strong rec MrMcCall · 2025-03 · on “Why do some birds mimic the sounds of other species?”
Here's the one that blows my mind: [this video] It's from one of (our honorary Uncle) David Attenborough's nature series, where a Lyre bird is imitating an analog professional camera, a car alarm, and a chainsaw. If I hadn't watched it well over a decade ago, I don't think I'd believe it. Search YT for 'lyre bird imitating chainsaw' for a choice of vids.
Cites NamTaf · 2020-07 · on “A ‘viral’ new bird song in Canada is causing sparrows to change their tune”
The Lyrebird from Australia is probably the best at this. It can imitate just about anything - car alarms, other birdsongs, camera shutters, gunshots, etc. etc. [this video] [LINK]