[neilep]

quote:Originally posted by bezoar

Ooooooohhhh, you are sooooo bad.  Must be up late again, huh?  So translate for the American here -- what is a grup?

GRUPS = GRown UPs .......[]

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[Exodus (OP)]

quote:Originally posted by neilep

quote:Originally posted by Exodus

quote:Originally posted by neilep

quote:Originally posted by bezoar

I raised some sparrows once that fell from their nest.  They were just blobs of pink skin with their eyes shut when I got them.  But when they got old enough, they sang just like the other birds outside that were in the nests.  By then, I think I had imprinted, because I knew the sound of a hungry baby sparrow.

Nancy, do you offer the same servivce to us grups ?

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

you really want to be force fed a pasty muck with a stick and then flirt with Nancy's boyfriend when he comes around?!?!?![] lol!!!

....well no, I suppose not !!..but the question is still valid...however, without getting too close to the edge I'd happily stick some special paste down...NO...I'll stop it there !!!!

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

That really might be a good idea lol! we may get kids on here. lol

[bezoar]

I like that -- grups.  Think I'll start using it.  Who knows?  I might even learn to speak English.

[neilep]

...actually, it's just a term that I use...it's not quintessentially English and I have to explain it to most people...but I'm glad you like it.

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[chris]

On a related theme to birds knowing their songs when they are born, baby spiders (isolated at birth) can spin a perfect web without ever having seen one. I would love to know the genetic basis behind that.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx

[Monox D. I-Fly]

What about talking cockatoos? Can they mimic other birds' song?

[chris]

We ran a nice piece recently on birdsong and the inventor of an app that decodes the identity of birds, and people doing impressions of birds!

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/decoding-bird-song

(Feel free to "tweet" about this...) 

[alancalverd]

There used to be a mynah in London Zoo who terrified visitors by saying, with a very cultured Anglo-Indian accent, "I'm not really a bird, you know". Full marks for his long-forgotten trainer.

[chris]

What was the bird called, Alan? Do any recordings exist?

[SquarishTriangle]

It's difficult for a bird to change the 'tone' of its voice because that is mostly due to anatomy. Birds have an air-filled 'syrinx' located where the trachea branches into two bronchi, which is responsible for the unique voice that each species has. But there is definitely also a learnt component to rhythm and control of the sound in a bird's song.

If anyone has table manners that are as appalling as mine, the next time you cook up poultry, complete with a neck, you should dissect out the trachea, locate the syrinx, cut it out, and then blow on it. This works particularly well for ducks, which are known for their amazing syrinxes. You'll sound exactly like the duck (...used to).