Mimicry without kenku

[stewstew5]

Is there any way to get the mimicry feature or something similar without being a kenku or taking the actor feat, preferably a background? The character who needs this deals with animals and can replicate their noises

[Man_Over_Game]

Is there any way to get the mimicry feature or something similar without being a kenku or taking the actor feat, preferably a background? The character who needs this deals with animals and can replicate their noises

There's nothing quite like what you're looking for.

However, a Bard can have Expertise in Animal Handling and Performance, and can cast Speak with Beasts and Animal Friendship, and that might be the closest you'd be able to get. Or, you can use Performance and Minor Illusion to create the sound of an animal, even if your vocal chords aren't capable of doing so.

[Rukelnikov]

Druidcraft specifically states you can create the sound of small animals.

Minor Illusion should be able to replicate animal noises, "a lion's roar" is in the list of examples. In this case, however, someone that decides to "investigate" the sound, is entitled to an Investigation check against your spell DC to determine that the sound is actually an illusion.

You could MAYBE convince your DM to allow Mastermind's Master of Intrigue to allow for this. RAW it says:

"Additionally, you can unerringly mimic the speech patterns and accent of a creature that you hear speak for at least 1 minute, enabling you to pass yourself off as a native speaker of a particular land, provided that you know the language."

Finally, the closest you can get to this using backgrounds is going with the incredibly broken Ravinca ones, Selesnya and Simic both grant you Druidcraft cantrip as long as you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature. So you would need to take this background and some spellcasting class.

[Quoz]

Firbolg also get speak with animals as a racial feature, and Yuan-Ti do as well but limited to snakes only.

[Fiskco]

the anthropologist background allows you to do the following:

You can communicate with humanoids who don't speak any language you know. You must observe the humanoids interacting with one another for at least 1 day, after which you learn a handful of important words, expressions, and gestures – enough to communicate on a rudimentary level.

while it isn't mimicry exactly, its useful for dealing with creatures that can communicate, but you do not know what language they speak.

other than that, if your speaking with animals you'll probably need to choose either a feat or a spell to communicate with animals.