The 10 year-old birdcaller who can trick birds with his calls
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In some of the, well, less stressful corners of social media, you can hear all kinds of bird calls, people sharing recordings of birds that they took with their phones.
SAMUEL HENDERSON: (Imitating bird calls).
DETROW: But 10-year-old Samuel Henderson of Oklahoma did not capture these sounds on his phone or a recorder. He made them himself.
SAMUEL: (Imitating bird call).
DETROW: He's a passionate bird lover who's begun to draw crowds with his talent for imitating a wide range of calls. Joining us now is the expert bird caller himself, fourth-grader Samuel Henderson, as well as his mother, Lori Henderson. Samuel, welcome to
SAMUEL: Thanks.
DETROW: How old were you when you realized, wow, I can really imitate a lot of birds?
SAMUEL: I was 6 years old.
DETROW: Do you remember what bird it was that you first tried to imitate the sound?
SAMUEL: Yeah, it was the great-tailed grackle, a shiny black bird with a long tail and yellow eyes.
DETROW: What is it about birds that you love so much that makes you want to spend time studying them and listening to them?
SAMUEL: Well, some reason all of a sudden, I just got into birds. And one of my most favorite features is that they have very unique calls.
DETROW: Yeah.
SAMUEL: And they can fly.
DETROW: Yeah. Now, let's talk about your bird calls. How many bird calls can you do at this point?
SAMUEL: Well, over 50, but I don't know how many exactly.
DETROW: Can you tell us what you do when you decide to learn a new one, how you practice it, how long it can take to say, like, I've got it just right?
SAMUEL: Well, actually, it just takes a day or sometimes a few days. Like, the resplendent quetzal, it took me a few days - or actually, like, a week to figure it out and memorize its call, and now I perfected it.
DETROW: Really? Can I hear that?
SAMUEL: (Imitating resplendent quetzal call).
DETROW: That's really good. You know, I think one of the things that really got so much attention when you did your talent show and did all of these bird calls at school is just how many different - wildly different sounds that you're able to easily do. Let's listen to a moment from that performance, and then talk about it.
SAMUEL: Everyone, please hold your applause until after my performance, please. This is a red-tailed hawk (imitating red-tailed hawk screech).
(APPLAUSE)
DETROW: You're doing owls. You're doing large birds. You're doing small birds. And how do you know what sounds to make and how to get that perfect sound just right when you're practicing?
SAMUEL: Well, I go outside, and sometimes I hear the call. There's this app on my phone called the Merlin Bird app.
DETROW: Oh, I have that app, too. I love it.
SAMUEL: A week back on Saturday, I caught a northern flicker.
DETROW: Oh, really?
SAMUEL: Yeah. And then I learned the northern flicker call that day.
DETROW: Oh, wow. Can I hear that one, too?
SAMUEL: (Imitating northern flicker chirps).
DETROW: It almost sounds like you've got a kazoo or something, but that's just you.
SAMUEL: Yeah. Well, I actually do have a kazoo in my bedroom.
DETROW: Oh, OK (laughter). Can I talk to your mom for a couple of minutes and ask her some questions?
SAMUEL: Hang on. She's coming.
SAMUEL: She was just closing the door because my bird yelled out from my northern flicker call.
DETROW: Oh, your bird responded to your call?
SAMUEL: Yeah.
DETROW: Does that happen a lot?
SAMUEL: Yeah. Usually when I make - when I'm in his call, he copies back.
SAMUEL: So my mom's here.
DETROW: Hey. Is this Lori? It's Scott. How are you?
LORI HENDERSON: I'm very well. How are you?
DETROW: I'm good. We're really enjoying this conversation. Thanks for being willing to do it.
HENDERSON: Well, thanks for having us.
DETROW: How did you respond when you posted this and saw it taking off in the way that it has?
HENDERSON: (Laughter) I was not going to post it. I delayed - 'cause it was back in May. And then, like, all of the kids, they like to put videos on...
DETROW: Sure.
HENDERSON: ...Of themselves and things. And I said, OK, I'll put it on. I posted it at night. The next morning, I got up and my jaw dropped.
(LAUGHTER)
DETROW: One thing I did want to ask is in the post, you included the hashtag autism. Why did you think that was important to include?
HENDERSON: It is important to get that out there, the uniqueness that these kids and individuals have. He looks at the world in a whole different view. He's made us, you know, look at the world in a different view and see the wonderful things that he can do. Birds is his thing - and nurturing that aspect of somebody and not holding them back of what they love.
DETROW: Yeah.
HENDERSON: And that's why I did that hashtag.
DETROW: Samuel Henderson, I just want to know, do you think that you want to do something related to birds as a career one day?
SAMUEL: Yes, I want to be a ornithologist, study birds.
DETROW: Well, you are off to a really great start. That is Samuel Henderson. We also talked to his mother, Lori Henderson, joining us from Oklahoma City. Thank you so much.
SAMUEL: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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