I always thought they were rainforest noises, like monkeys and toucans or something, used to lure potential shoppers in and give a nature-y sort of feel to the whole place, which seems like the kind of store you’d want to check out if you were in the market for a pair of Birkenstocks.

While they do sell Birkenstocks, they also sell Ralph Lauren, so it’s a bit more high-falutin’ than all that. And, according to store employees, the bird sounds are no rainforest but actually a recording of a

dying pigeon. The recording is used to keep pigeons away so they don’t land (or worse, poop) on you or the merchandise if either happens to be outside. (Sparrows, however, don’t seem to speak pigeon – I saw one hopping around on the building as I left.)

Kind of an eerie thought, blithely shopping to the sound of birds dying rather than Muzak – but hey, at least they don’t have someone out there killing a pigeon every day.

-Alyson Hill