Siren mimicking bird leaves Thames Valley Police officers confused
Thames Valley Police officer Inspector Simon Hills captured a video earlier this week of a bird mimicking what seemed to be a police siren
Last updated 11th Apr 2024
Officers were left confused at the Thames Valley Roads Policing base in Bicester after finding out one of the local birds has learnt to mimic a police siren.
A bird's impression of a police siren was "so accurate" it left officers believing their cars were faulty.
Posting on social media, a team spokesperson promised it was "100% real and NOT a late April Fools joke".
Thames Valley Police posted the video of the bird mimicking the sound of a police siren yesterday on X:
Inspector Simon Hills captured the encounter after hearing what he thought was a faulty Police car being returned to base.
Speaking about the bird he said: "I thought I could hear a Police siren and maybe one of the cars had a defect and that the siren was a bit quieter than usual.
"But then I heard some chirping at the end of it and I realised that it was actually a bird mimicking the sound.
"It's a really good impression and we don't know how or why it's picked it up but if it wasn't to come out on patrol with us, it might scare a few criminals.
"We haven't got a name for it yet, but we were speaking about that in the office this morning."
You can check out our interview with Inspector Simon Hills below, including his highly accurate siren impression: