The Biggest Gamer in the Bird World

Listen to this clip and take a guess at what it is: 

An old Sega console? A busted computer? R2-D2? 

Nope. It’s a male Curl-crested Jay that’s just so good at digital sound effects, you’d think it swallowed a game of Tetris.

The jay’s intriguing behavior was captured on camera by a volunteer at the Criadouro Onça Pintada breeding center in Brazil. Although it’s unclear where this particular bird found its inspiration, wild Curl-crested Jays are known to incorporate the calls of other birds into their repertoire. The birds, which are endemic to the cerrado woodlands in eastern South America, are known mimics—a behavioural trait that’s common to all jays.

In an article for National Geographic, researchers Chris Bird and Ira Federspiel from the University of Cambridge write that jays rip off all kinds of sound bites—everything from dripping taps to human speech. It’s probable, the researchers say, that the birds’ pliable vocals are engineered for mating. They also write:

“It has been suggested that mimicked sounds could be an ‘honest signal’ to females indicating the quality of the male. Since copying a sound that’s not part of the species’ own repertoire comes at a certain expense, time, and energy expended in mimicking suggest a healthier suitor. Hence vocal repertoire may help females decide which males to mate with.”

In other words, the more expansive and unique the archive of sound effects, the more chance there is of winning the attention of a female bird. Unfortunately for this captive Curl-crested Jay, it’s more likely that its calls are a sign of restlessness; birds that mime in captivity frequently turn to their own tunes for entertainment, or use them to get their owners’ attention.

But this lonely jay should know that he isn’t the only bird with a gaming obsession: The Australian lyrebird offers stiff competition with its impressive take on a Space Invaders laser gun. If these two birds ever met, it’d surely be an epic showdown.