Abstract
THE remarkable accuracy with which captive hill mynahs (Gracula religiosa) mimic human speech and other sounds is well known1. How this ability functions in nature was entirely speculative until Bertram2 conducted an extensive field study of hill mynahs in India. Bertram2 found that hill mynahs in India imitate the calls of other hill mynahs, but never heard a wild mynah imitate another species.
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References
Thorpe, W. H., Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 132, 441–455 (1959).
Bertram, B., Anim. Behav. Monogr., 3, 81–192 (1970).
Tenaza, R. R., Folia Primatol., 24, 60–80 (1975).
Tenaza, R. R., Z. Tierpsychol., 40, 37–52 (1976).
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TENAZA, R. Wild mynahs mimic wild primates. Nature 259, 561 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/259561a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/259561a0
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