Newspaper hype

Here is a rather desperate attempt by The Herald to jazz up a story:

"It is as distinctive for the birds as it is for humans: proof that an avian species has its own Scottish accent has been used to settle a long-running ornithological dispute. Controversy has raged over the past quarter of a century since the Scottish crossbill was identified as a separate species, endemic to the UK, and different from the common crossbill."

Oh wow! A bird with a Scottish accent? Unfortunately, the rest of the story is less exciting:

"Scotland's conifer woods are home to the common crossbill which has a small bill best suited to extracting seeds from spruce cones; the parrot crossbill with a large bill suited to extracting seeds from pine cones; and the Scottish crossbill, with a medium bill size enabling it to extract seeds from several different conifers. All three are similar in size and plumage and DNA tests have shown the birds to be genetically similar, casting doubt on the Scottish crossbill's status as a distinct species. RSPB experts say the most important evidence has come from a long-term field study which focused on discovering if the birds mate with those with a similar bill size and call, and whether young Scottish crossbills inherited their bill sizes from their parents.
Results showed that, of 46 pairs of different types of crossbills caught, almost all matched closely for bill size and calls. The fact that young crossbills had bill sizes similar to their parents showed they inherited their bill sizes, and supported the Scottish species status."

So the Scottish crossbill has a different call. Nothing to do with Scottish accents. Something of a disappointment.