Last Friday night students at Piedmont High School in California gathered in an auditorium, sporting paper beaks, Pilgrim outfits, and turkey costumes. To a sold-out audience, they gobbled and squawked and chirped for a panel of judges. No, this wasn’t an out-of-season Thanksgiving pageant. It was the school’s 50th (nearly) annual birdcall competition. Late science teacher Leonard J. Waxdeck started the competition in 1963, the story goes, after a student asked if Waxdeck could do something to “liven things up around here.” The contest soon received national attention, the winners appearing for 17 years in a row on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Once Carson retired, they made the move to Late Night with David Letterman, where they appeared last night, April 21. Each call is presented as part of a short sketch, in which students recount a sighting of the bird, or pretend that they themselves are birds. Students perform in pairs or trios, and are judged on the...