Now, as an adult, Carmen prefers to perch on the scroll of the violin and gape between the strings; she places her bill between two strings, opens her mandibles wide, and then pulls her bill out, so both strings ring. This seems to delight her. But she will not learn the Mozart motif. Starlings are among the few songbirds who continue to learn new vocalizations year after year, so I am not without hope that she will surprise me one day.
“Now, as an adult, Carmen prefers to perch on the scroll of the violin and gape between the strings; she places her bill between two strings, opens her mandibles wide, and then pulls her bill out, so both strings ring. This seems to delight her. But she will not learn the Mozart motif. Starlings are among the few songbirds who continue to learn new vocalizations year after year, so I am not without hope that she will surprise me one day.”
