Police confused by bird mimicking their siren

[beschizza]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/13/police-confused-by-bird-mimicking-their-siren.html

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[GagHalfrunt]

@beschizza

special branch

I see what you did there.

[Shuck]

@beschizza

I could see the bird up in the trees, clearly mimicking the sirens in a really professional way."

Professional way? Did they subsequently hire the bird, then?

[jerwin]

Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw! Now in high quality | BBC Earth

[hecep]

Re cops in general:

Confusion will be my epitaph… (Greg Lake)

[Amphitrite]

Reminds me of my childhood dog, a beagle named Fred. We lived in a small town in tornado alley that also had a volunteer fire department. Whenever either siren would go off, Fred would match the pitch perfectly. Neighbors joked that the only way they knew the sirens had stopped was when Fred took a breath.

[anothernewbbaccount]

It wasn’t a member of special branch.

But eventually they twigged what the source of the sound was.

[GagHalfrunt]

It was the flying squad.

[anothernewbbaccount]

@GagHalfrunt

the flying squad.

They always root out the real culprit.

[FGD135]

Special branch, eh?

Neil Joins The Police Force - The Young Ones. Remastered [HD]

[RickMycroft]

If their car siren fails, they can always use the bird Flintstones style.

[leicester]

We were at a popular trailhead a few years back and heard a car alarm.
Nope, just the local raven mimicking.

[joey_bladb]

Twice yearly we get migrating mockingbirds for a couple of weeks. They only record and playback short samples, maybe 1-2 seconds, but they play them back in various combinations.

For a couple of years there was one of them I recognized, because he had a huge sample library. IIRC, he had cat meow, eagle screech, 6 flavor car alarm, ambulance siren, police siren, red wing blackbird, two chickadee samples, scrub jay, screaming girl, and many more. His name was Bruce.

Whenever I was out working in the yard, I tried to whistle the mockingjay sound from The Hunger Games because that would’ve been SO cool. But it didn’t take, and after that autumn, I never heard Bruce again. I hope he’s alright and simply found a different place to roost. We’ve hosted a couple of others over the years, but none so talented as Bruce.

[WedgeAntilles]

Does that mean the bird is going to jail for impersonating a police officer?

[Purplecat]

Just as well it didn’t imitate the sound of an acorn falling on a car roof.

[Scientist]

@beschizza

In this footage, police officers in Bicester, England, are befuddled by the sound of a police siren emanating from the trees

alternatively:

All Cops Are Baffled

[kmoser]

They’ll send that jailbird to Sing Sing where he’ll definitely sing!

[GagHalfrunt]

He’ll be doing bird.