Conversation with a Cardinal

Elena and I heard a cardinal chirping in the tree.  She chirped back, precisely imitating his sound and rhythm.

Then the cardinal replied with a different rhythm. She echoed that one, too--on and on for about five minutes, inventing new sounds that he promptly copied!

"That is remarkable!" I said, never having overheard a conversation between a human and a bird.

"That's not really remarkable," she said.  "I can talk to all animals and they always talk to me."

Then she said, "He probably thinks I'm a giant pink cardinal."