Who Can Bird?

If you are passionate about birds, chances are you have come across videos on social media of people mimicking gull calls or whistling the songs of songbirds. Belgium, with its famous European Seagull Screeching Championship, and the United States, with its duck calling and turkey calling contests, have long been pioneers in this fascinating art of recreating bird vocalisations using nothing but the human voice.

For its twelfth edition, the Delta Birding Festival is taking things one step further by launching the first Bird Song and Call Imitation Contest, open to participants of all ages!

The aim of the contest is to challenge participants to imitate bird songs and other vocalisations, rewarding both precision and creativity. Are you ready to put your skills to the test and compete for fantastic prizes?

1. The contest will take place during the Delta Birding Festival at the time and location announced by the organisers.
2. Participation is free and open to all festival attendees.
3. Places are limited and, should the maximum number of participants be reached, entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. You can register by completing the form available through this link.
4. Each participant will have a maximum of two minutes to perform.
5. During their performance, participants may imitate as many bird species as they wish.
6. All imitations must be produced using the human voice only. The use of artificial bird calls, recordings, musical instruments, mobile applications or any other device capable of assisting or reproducing bird sounds is strictly prohibited.
7. The contest will include the following categories:

a. MELODIOUS WARBLER CATEGORY: Beneath its modest plumage, the Melodious Warbler hides one of nature’s most remarkable vocal talents. Its scientific name (Hippolais polyglotta) perfectly reflects this ability: poly means “many” and glotta refers to “tongues” or “languages”. Literally, it means “the one that speaks many languages.” This prize will therefore be awarded to the participant who best embodies the spirit of this species: the person with the skill, ear and almost magical ability to accurately imitate the greatest number of bird species.

b.COMMON NIGHTINGALE CATEGORY:The Common Nightingale is widely regarded as the virtuoso of the night in our riverside woodlands. With a repertoire of hundreds of different phrases, it is considered one of the finest singers in the avian world. This category will reward the most accurate imitation, recognising the participant who reproduces a single bird song or call with the greatest fidelity.

There will also be a People’s Choice Award, presented to the performance receiving the highest score from the audience.

8. The Most Accurate Imitation and Greatest Number of Species Imitated categories will be judged by a panel appointed by the organisers. For the Most Accurate Imitation category, the jury may complement its evaluation with automatic sound-identification tools such as BirdNET, particularly in cases of doubt or to resolve ties. The jury’s decision will always be final.
9. To be eligible for the Greatest Number of Species Imitated award, participants must clearly announce the species they are imitating either before or after each imitation so that the jury can validate it.
10. The People’s Choice Award will be decided according to the voting system established by the organisers.
11. Only imitations that the jury considers sufficiently recognisable and confidently attributable to a particular species will be counted. Imitations that cannot be reliably identified will not count towards the Greatest Number of Species Imitated award.
12. Bird taxonomy and nomenclature will follow the IOC World Bird List.
13. Members of the jury, contest organisers and Delta Birding Festival staff are not eligible to participate in the competition (festival volunteers are exempt from this restriction).
14. The jury’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal.
15. Prize winners will be announced and awards presented during the Delta Birding Festival.
16. The organisers reserve the right to interpret these rules and to resolve any situations not covered herein.
17. Participation in the contest implies full acceptance of these rules.

We look forward to discovering your bird imitation skills and seeing you give it your all in this unique ornithological talent competition!

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