The city’s first bird call competition drew millions of views around the world for its quirky contestants and realistic sounds
There were no birds onstage at the University of Hong Kong last weekend, but the sounds – trills, hoots, warbles – suggested otherwise.
In the city’s first-ever bird call competition, participants took turns mimicking the songs of local species, from the chestnut-winged cuckoo to the Asian barred owlet. Some wore feathered costumes, others brought props. Many sounded, to the untrained ear, uncannily real.
Hong Kong is home to more than 580 bird species – nearly a third of the total bird species recorded in China. Yet that evening at HKU, the only creatures making noise were human. Close your eyes, and you might have sworn the city’s wetlands had somehow migrated indoors.
The competition, hosted by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, received 97 recordings of the Asian koel, out of which 20 were shortlisted, says Rico Chan, a co-organiser of the contest. The qualifying round challenged contestants to replicate the calls and songs of four designated birds, plus one of their choice.
