Skylarks' mimicry

[Jake]

I heard a Skylark mimic a Black-fronted Tern, Lapwing and Harrier, one impersonation after the other in a Marlborough vineyard a month or so back. I hadn't realised they were so good! Since then, and being more aware of this behavior, I've heard Oystercatchers being copied at the Wairau Lagoons, NZ Falcon at Beacon Rd and (arguably) Welcome Swallow calls, also coming from Skylarks. No doubt this behavior has been noted/written about in NZ-European Skylarks before but I haven't come by it

[zarkov]

Is it mimicry, or coincidence?

Tui make all sorts of weird noises, some may be imitation, but others are probably just weird noises they make that sound like other stuff.

It's a conundrum.

[Oscar Thomas]

I can vouch for Skylarks mimicking NZ Falcon. I’ve only heard it in areas where there are resident birds.

[SomesBirder]

Is it mimicry, or coincidence?

Tui make all sorts of weird noises, some may be imitation, but others are probably just weird noises they make that sound like other stuff.

It's a conundrum.

From BotW:

Male mimics other birds during Aerial Display Song, e.g., other larks, Marsh Warbler, Linnet, Song Thrush, Nightingale, and waders, such as Redshank. Male also mimics when singing on ground, e.g., House Sparrow and Whitethroat.

[Jake]

Is it mimicry, or coincidence?

The Welcome Swallow type calls are quite possibly shared, common vocals; the others were all definitely mimicking.

There are a couple of things about it that are particularly odd/notable to me: a) mimicking birds of prey, and b) the first time I heard it, it was mid-song and the skylark dedicated just a few seconds to copying three different species before going back to his more typical song.

Where I work BF Terns are somewhat common and vocals being copied often. The skylarks are definitely adopting simple calls of the birds they hear frequently

[Jake]

Hey hey, I don't want to post a new topic, but i've just found some old video, with terrible audio, of a silvereye casually mimicking a Song Thrush; I remember being drawn to the little bird, initially thinking it was a Song Thrush doing Yellowhammer and finch song. I can hardly pick anything out and will endeavor to post a link to the files