How Starlings Learned to 'Beep' Like R2‑D2 — What Birdsong Reveals About Vocal Evolution

Fans of Star Wars will recognize R2‑D2’s electronic chirps—and a recent study used those familiar beeps to probe how different bird species copy complex sounds. Researchers analyzed publicly available recordings of nine parrot species (including budgies) and European starlings imitating R2‑D2 to measure how closely each bird reproduced the droid’s layered whirrs.

What the researchers did

The team performed acoustic analyses on clips found online, comparing each imitation to a statistical model of R2‑D2’s sounds. By quantifying similarity, they ranked how accurately each species reproduced the droid’s signature chirps and mechanical timbres.

Key findings

European starlings — a songbird species — stood out. Starlings can produce "multiphonic" vocalizations: two distinct tones or notes at the same time. That ability let them recreate the layered, robotic character of R2‑D2’s calls more precisely than parrots and budgies, which generally produce "monophonic" (single‑tone) sounds.

The difference traces to the syrinx, the specialized vocal organ at the base of a bird’s trachea. "Starlings can produce two sounds at once because they control both sides of the syrinx independently," says study co‑author Nick Dam, an evolutionary biologist at Leiden University. "Parrots are physically incapable of producing two tones simultaneously."

"Likely, some ancestor of songbirds evolved the ability to control the muscles on both sides of the syrinx, and this helped them in some way," says Lauryn Benedict, a biologist at the University of Northern Colorado who was not involved in the study. One leading hypothesis connects that capacity to sexual selection: males that sing more complex songs may attract more mates.

Limitations and next steps

Experts caution the analysis has limits. Because the study relied on clips posted online, researchers could not always document how much training or reward each bird received. "Using online recordings doesn’t reveal whether a bird learned the sound through training or spontaneous imitation," notes Nicole Creanza, an evolutionary biologist at Vanderbilt University, who was not part of the research.

The authors and other scientists encourage larger, controlled trials and public contributions to expand the dataset. Projects inviting public submissions of parrot imitations, such as "The Many Parrots Project," could help researchers test a wider range of sounds beyond R2‑D2 and explore how learning, environment, and anatomy interact to shape vocal imitation.

Why it matters

Beyond the novelty of birds imitating a movie droid, the study sheds light on how physical anatomy and neural control shape vocal repertoires across species. Understanding the syrinx’s role in producing complex sounds helps scientists trace the evolutionary paths that made sophisticated vocal learning possible in some birds but not others.