sgeoff

I heard a rather interesting magpie robin song this afternoon, where the call of a savannah nightjar was apparently integrated into the repertoire.  I managed to get a digital sound recording of this - is there any way I can post it here?

sgeoff

I'll put that down as a "no" then.  Pity because there are some interesting calls at the moment.  After the apparent lack of success with the Savannah nightjar impersonation, this magpie robin tried incorporating phrases from the chestnut bulbuls which have been around recently.  The Mylamma site has kindly helped to make these available:

http://www.lamma.com.hk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3978

ajohn

Magpie robins often incorporate mimicry into their songs, and copy various species.

Chestnut bulbul seems to be a favourite for some reason, for both magpie robins and long-tailed shrikes (which also often mimic). Perhaps they like to mimic these because the call is so distinctive and easy to copy.

Black-throated Laughingthrush is also a regular mimic, and they seem to be very fond of Crested Serpent Eagle.

I even heard a Hainan Blue Flycatcher including mimicry in its song last week!