@johnhickman106 That's crazy! I had no idea Starlings could mimic so many things. There's a bird called a lyre bird. I've seen videos of them mimicking chainsaws, cellphones, camera shutters, etc... Birds are such fascinating creatures.
Birds are wonderful to have a bond with. You don't necessarily need to have one as a pet (but that's ok too) Interact when they come around and they'll never let you down. Gretta is so special. Those people are blessed.
Just so people know and are aware, kitchens laundry's and bathrooms are places where birds should avoid. Fumes from cooking, gas hotplates, cooking oils etc are not good for birds to be around as they put off fumes we can't see or even notice. Same as bathrooms where we use spray deodorant and toilet fresheners and laundry's where chemicals are used to wash . birds should avoid fireplaces and radiant heaters and oil and gas heaters where possible which is hard in cold environments. Its like the canary in the coal mine. If you are unaware of the saying you can google it. Don't mean to sound like a party pooper, just need to look after our feathered friends 👍😎
Love it!! My baby girl Stella was such a joy to have! (I have several videos of her talking here on my channel as well- "Stella the startling" brings her up too). Gretta reminds me of my little Stella! :) I really believe they are one of the best companions around! :)
They really are! Gretta change my life forever... mostly in good ways. ;) I love all birds but there's something so unique and special about one that imprints on you - there's nothing like it.
I did not know starlings are so vocal. They're all over northwest Florida. I've seen them here in Graceville, Florida. We;re three miles south of the Florida/Alabama State Line; in the northwest corner of Jackson County.
It's such an incredible thing. It's not an impression, it's almost as though it were an actual recording: the accuracy is phenomenal. Hopefully, somebody has managed to established how this is achieved.
A very fascinating thing about starlings is that they don't have their own language. Most birds will have a language that's very similar to others of their kind, no matter where in the world they live. Groups of starlings establish their language based on the sounds of their environment, which means starlings in one part of the country wouldn't be able to communicate with a group of starlings from across the country (I mean, if it were even possible for them to meet). So when they imprint on and grow up with humans, our language becomes theirs. Gretta doesn't just mimic human sounds but uses those words to communicate. Most types of birds who can learn to mimic human language are just making sounds with no real meaning to them. With human-imprinted starlings, it is their language and song.
My hypothesis is that Starlings in the wild have a language that is more complex than humans give them credit for. Imagine if someone could crack the code to their hidden language.
@@creampuff4721They do. There is a bonobo tribe at a research facility, who have learned sign language, but had also developed their own hieroglyphic written language. There was also an Elephant tribe who was observed every full moon gathering in a circle waving branches up at the night sky in a somewhat ceremonial fashion. There was even a group of apes found on an untouched island who were discovered to have been in the midst of an early stone age given their observed hunting tactics with flint weapons and tools, along with strategic movement for corralling fish in the shallow water to hunt them.
Not the same bird but there's a video that has a list of seagull noises and what they mean. Would be hard to do for starlings since they interact with us much less. What the bird is doing is essentially the same as us phonetically memorising a phrase in a language we do not speak or making a specific noise/whistle. And it looks like the voice box of some birds are much more apt at playback of the sounds in their memory. Some birds can learn a vocabulary and use it in conversation but those are specially trained but most are just copying noises phonetically
You should check out my reply above about starlings not having their own language. Very few species of birds fit into that category. Starlings really are very fascinating little creatures. Same with cowbirds, even though most people seem to hate them both.
She looks just like my Minnak… “My love, my love, long live my daughter, I love you so much…” he would say to me. He always followed me, came with me wherever I went, and could never stand being without me. He was in love with my hands and would dance love dances on them. When he wanted to impress me, he would fluff up his feathers to look like a bigger bird and sing to me. I lost him when he was 7 months old. He came to me on 06.07.2023 and we were together until 16.01.2024. I miss him so much and he is my eternal love… ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Unless they are disabled, I do hope this array of charming little critters that we see on here are free to fly in the outdoors. To permanently keep them in doors would be cruel.
The only starlings I've ever known of or heard of as pets are those who are unable to survive outdoors. Wild creatures should always remain in the wild unless it's not possible for them to do so. I think we agree on that, and I wish more people would understand that concept.
Oh, he has before! And to plenty of other things. I can't count the number of times I left home, ran some errands, and came back home to find dried starling poop in my hair that had been in there the whole time I was out in public. Starlings are flying poop factories... so much messier than parrots of their size. But so worth it!
My rat terrier has a thing about whistling, and he goes a little nuts when he hears your bird. He goes nuts when he hears the old spice jingle when he goes nuts when he hears your bird.
OMG are you kidding me.. this is phenomenal! I'm beyond words... thank you for this...I have a barn yard full of Starlings which I've always fostered..
Local starlings and peach-faced lovebirds sit next to each other on Peoria Ave. telephone wires in Sun City, Arizona, having long conversations. Doves and pigeons glare at them.
