Oxfordshire: Bird 'confuses' police officers by mimicking siren sound
Thames Valley Police posted a video of the birdsong and said the copycat call was "100% real and not a late April Fools joke".
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:12, UK
Police officers were left "confused" by a bird when it convincingly mimicked the sound of the sirens on their cars.
Thames Valley Police said staff initially thought their vehicles had developed a fault after hearing the noise at a roads policing base in Bicester.
A video filmed at the site in Oxfordshire and posted on social media shows the bird chirping in a tree - before then replicating the sound of a two-tone siren.
The force said that the copycat call was "100% real and not a late April Fools joke" and added that officers were left "a little confused".
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
It added: "It's so accurate, they've been left thinking the sirens were faulty on the cars!
"From our workshops that test out the two tone-tune to officers deploying to jobs, this little fella has been sat patiently observing the noise to recreate it".
Social media users speculated that the bird could be a starling, which are known for their ability to mimic man-made noises.