Blackbird sings like ambulance siren

A blackbird has learnt to mimic the sound of an ambulance siren and has taken to waking families at 5am each day with the noise.

The bird can also recreate the sound of a car alarm, a mobile phone ring tone and can even wolf whistle at passers-by.

But the calls - thought to be an attempt to attract a mate - are driving its human neighbours to distraction.



Decorator Nathan Talbot, 39, and his wife Alison, 37, a sales assistant, have their peace shattered at dawn. They live near to the Weston General Hospital in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and the bird has learned to mimic the noise of passing ambulances perfectly.

Experts say it is extremely rare for a blackbird to mimic background sounds - a behaviour more common among starlings or thrushes. But, with the bird showing off its new skill from 5am to 8pm every day, Mrs Talbot said the family are at their wits’ end.

"It is so realistic, the first time I heard it, I thought it was a real ambulance," she said. "It’s only a tiny bird but the sound is so incredibly loud, there is no drowning it out."