Birds copy ringtones to produce wingtones

News

Tim Green Jul 3 2008, 11:46am

Birds are learning ringtones, with the common titbird mastering 32 different monos.

According to German ornithologists, birds can imitate sounds that correspond to their own musical capabilities – and in our wireless world, that means ringtones.

Birds can “sing up to 78 different phrases, and many of the simplest phone ringtones coincide with them. The common titbird can sing 32 different songs,” said ornithologist Matthias Werner, of the German government's bird protection agency.

Another ornithologist, Richard Schneider of the NABU Bird Protection Center, added: "It's in the nature of these birds to imitate the sounds of their environment that correspond to their own musical capabilities.

They can imitate those sounds so well that sometimes it is very difficult to hear the difference.”

The article, in Latin American news site Tierramérica, doesn’t say whether birds have moved beyond monos into realtones. Presumably parrots can reproduce polys.

Birds’ favourite ringtones:

The Wind Beneath My Wings
Albatross
I Believe I Can Fly
The Birdie Song
Move Over Starling
Wren Will I See You Again?
How Deep Is Your Dove?
Anything by The Eagles