High schoolers compete with bird calls

Eleven birdcalling teams at a California high school whistled and squawked for the chance to represent the school on "The Late Show with David Letterman." The 46th annual birdcalling contest, held Friday at Piedmont High School, required the teams to demonstrate the calls of various birds while also giving information on the habitat, diet and mating habits of their chosen birds, the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported Monday. The winning team Caitlin Baldridge, Austin Kelley and Theo Quayle chose the American coot for their presentation. They said they learned about the bird, which resembles a duck but has a chicken-like beak, on the Internet. The team will film their segment for Letterman's show May 25. "I'm very, very shocked. I didn't expect that at all," Baldridge said of her team's victory.