Over the last year, residents have been stumped and increasingly annoyed about a mysterious "staccato toot" bird song drifting over the Dunedin suburb of Glenleith.
And the person who solved the mystery may also be the one to blame - or at least her whistling kettle.
Sue Walthert, who has lived on a semi-rural property for the last six years, has become increasingly puzzled by a change in the tune sung by the friendly neighbourhood tui since last summer.
She diplomatically described the new "tune", which often begins at dawn and ends at dusk, as a "staccato toot" but acknowledged it was more like a "disturbing, loud-pitched repetitive shrill".
"It can get very annoying."
The mystery was solved at Christmas when Mrs Walthert was asked by a family member to turn off her whistling kettle. However, the kettle was not on the gas hob at the time.
"That is when I clicked . . . it's impersonating the kettle."
Hearing the bird's new tune coincided with the purchase of a new kettle more than a year ago, Mrs Walthert said.
"Fortunately, I have to replace it after I dented it."
When looking at replacements, she plans to test their whistles to find a more agreeable one.
"I wonder if they sell a whistle that sounds like a tui?"
No sooner had the kettle being turned on for the Otago Daily Times yesterday than the tui burst into its kettle song.
Resident of 48 years, Patricia Lainchbury said she usually loved the sound of tuis, but since the local bird began impersonating the kettle she admitted "you can soon go off them".
Tui were renowned mimics, often impersonating other bird songs they heard, Ornithological Society of New Zealand president David Lawrie said.
While he had never heard of a tui mimicking a kettle, it was not uncommon for them to copy a mobile phone ringtone, to the annoyance of the person running to catch the non-existent call.
He said the whistling-kettle impersonation could be specific to that area of Dunedin, with the tui possibly reverting to its normal distinctive clicks and bellbird-like calls when it visited other areas of the city.
He did not know whether the tui would change its song when a new kettle arrived.
"Now that would be interesting to find out."
