Cheep Tricks: Watch 6 Birds That Sound Like R2-D2

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for, but a near-sighted Jedi could easily mistake one of these talented birds for R2-D2. Bluey, the parakeet above, has made headlines this week for his perfect impression of the Star Wars robot. YouTube user Carli Jeffrey, who posted the video, writes that her family trained the budgie (short for budgerigar, a.k.a. the common pet parakeet) by playing him R2-D2 sounds from YouTube.

In no time, Bluey was could mimic those familiar beeps, whistles, and chirps. “We were blown away that he picked it up so quickly! The other budgies in his cage started copying him but could only manage a few seconds at a time,” writes Jeffrey.

Clearly, not all birds are as versatile as Bluey – but there is a surprising number of avian R2-D2 impersonators. Listen to the best of the flock below.

Greg, a rainbow lorikeet, learned how to chirp like R2D2 by imitating his owner’s ringtone:

Here’s a ring-necked parakeet – a rescue bird, according to the YouTube description – who appears to be fluent in droid language:

Zepher, an African grey parrot, does an impressive R2-D2, in between saying his own name and clucking like a chicken:

The force must be strong with this wild Australian magpie —skip to 2:02:

There’s an R2-D2-ish quality to the song of this lyrebird, who chirps like a laser gun:

If you want to teach your own bird to talk like R2D2, here’s a video to help you out.

Not an animal person? You could always try to make your squeaky cabinets sound like Chewbacca instead:

Photo: Lucasfilm, via Star Wars Blog