Fame beckons for Arnie

Published Nov 9, 2009

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London - A starling that can talk, mimic cellphones and fly beside a vehicle at 60km/h is set to appear in a film.

Arnie the starling is coached by bird trainer Lloyd Buck, who said the bird already has a "vocabulary" of 30 words, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Buck, 41, who lives with wife Rosie outside Bristol, is one of the world's leading bird trainers and a veteran of wildlife documentaries.

He has taught a golden eagle to fly fitted with a camera and trained peregrine falcons to plunge with skydivers.

Buck found Arnie after it had been rejected from its nest and, after gaining a licence to rear it, developed the pair's close working relationship.

Arnie, which is named after a children's book character rather than Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator actor, is to appear in a British film which starts production in 2010.

Buck said: "When we came across Arnie he had been thrown from the nest. He was naked and blind and would not have survived.

"He is totally fearless and very smart. He's also very cheeky. He says about 30 different words and phrases, impersonates Rose's cough and my laughter. He also mimics magpies and moorhens." - Ananova.com

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