Toby just loves to whistle the Andy Griffith tune. He’s been hearing his papa, Reggie, sing it since he was just an egg!
Reggie learned to whistle the Andy Griffith song when he was about a year old. I would whistle a section of it, and then Tyler would whistle it back. I’d ask Reggie, “Can you do that?” and eventually, he figured it out.
When Reggie and Charlie were in the nest box with eggs and then chicks last summer, Reggie sang the Andy Griffith song *incessantly*. Judging by how many eggs she laid, Charlie found it pretty darn impressive! As a result, all the baby birds had a constant soundtrack of Reggie singing Andy Griffith.
Toby, being a smart and attentive little bird, started whistling the Andy Griffith tune at a very early age. He just picked it up from Reggie. I’ve been working with him to fill in some of the parts that Reggie never got, and he’s doing a great job! It’s not perfect, but that doesn’t matter; as the video proves, Toby is awfully cute. :-)
Unfortunately, Reggie hardly ever whistles Andy Griffith anymore. I think he feels like Toby stole his thunder. Poor little boo!
p.s. That video looks way darker now that it’s been compressed by YouTube than it did on my camera. Here’s a shot of what it’s s’posed to look like:
