The most spectacular bird mimic, the lyrebird, is a hit on YouTube. It can imitate a car reversing, camera shutter, chain saw, the sound of falling trees, rifle shots, musical instruments, fire alarms, crying babies, trains, humans, just about anything it hears. Since male birds go to great lengths mimicking human sounds during the breeding season, ornithologists suggest that females may be selecting males with the most complex song. But European biologists found no evidence that male songbirds with better imitating skills have their way with the ladies. Another, somewhat nihilistic, theory
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