Probably many readers are already have seen videos featuring Samuel Henderson, the young man who can imitate the calls of scores of bird. Those videos have been a sensation on the Intertubes since at least 2024.
Samuel’s mother, Lori Henderson, got the story started by publishing a video on TikTok of Samuel’s performance when he was included in a school talent show. Here is a copy of that post from Ms. Henderson’s YouTube channel (where she lists herself as “Lori, Samuel’s Mom”) :
Among the many media outlets that have published stories about Samuel and Lori Henderson are these five:
James Crugnale for Audubon Magazine 7 October 2024: “Meet the Kid Who Wowed the Internet With His Incredibly Accurate Bird Calls: The talented 10-year-old’s performance at a school talent show recently went viral on TikTok after folks couldn’t believe their ears”;
Lori Dorn 15 October 2024 for Laughing Squid: “10 Year Old Autistic Boy Performs Amazingly Accurate Bird Calls During School Talent Show”;
Jennifer Hudson for her show, the Jennifer Hudson Show, 18 November 2024: “This Talented Kid Sounds Just Like a Bird”;
Steve Hartman for CBS News 4 April 2025: “11-year-old boy who can imitate 50 birds wows at school talent show” (lots of puns);
The Editorial Team for VOI (Voice of India) 5 April 2025: “The Unique Ability Of An 11-year-old Boy From US Oklahoma, Able To Imitate 50 Bird Voices Perfectly”;
Of course, there are many other videos available on popular media outlets. Do your own research! Have fun!
Many Dear Readers will know that I listen to birds. Samuel imitates some that I have never heard, but for birds that I know, Samuel’s imitations are really quite good.
As reported in some of the news articles, Samuel has been identified as having Tourettes syndrome and autism. One reporter noted a concern that students from special education classes had not previously been included in school talent shows. I think the story about Samuel’s skill would be pretty cool, even without a disability twist. Fortunately it seems that the disability aspect of the story has not been foregrounded. Let’s just appreciate that Samuel has gotten good—really good—at imitating bird sounds.