Hi, birders.
Have you ever heard a bird call and then found that it came from the wrong bird? You know, a bird other than a Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher or other known mimic species...
I'm on two birding email listserves, and this issue has come up several times. One example was of a Eur. starling fooling an experienced birder into thinking he was hearing an EARLY spring migrant -- in the dead of winter.
And then there are the Blue Jays. Here in central, upstate New York, some of them seem to have developed the ability to mimic hawks in order to get more food. This spring, two birders on my listserve mentioned they had heard the call of a Red-shouldered Hawk before they were due to arrive, only to find a Blue Jay doing the calling. This was near bird feeders. One day two summers ago, i went looking and looking in the trees of my backyard , positive (and very excited) that i had a hawk of some kind perched nearby. Nope. You guessed it; it was a Blue Jay, doing short, high-pitched "kyup"s.
And in January of last year, i was visiting the home of a very experienced and active birder who, because of location, irruption, and LOTS of feeders, was attracting large numbers of many far-northern species -- like Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, and Crossbill. Several people were there that day, even a birding club, i think. It was a relaxed atmosphere, and most people were standing around conversing in between viewing the birds eating at the feeders. Suddenly, we heard a hawk call, very nearby. All the small birds fled the feeders and we went running to look for the hawk. What did we see? A single Blue Jay, which flew in to eat at the feeder of its choice! No hawk was there at all. The home-owner birder (who was at the head of the group running to find the "hawk") said the same thing had happened earlier in the week.
Anyone have a similar story?
Have you ever heard a bird call and then found that it came from the wrong bird? You know, a bird other than a Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher or other known mimic species...
I'm on two birding email listserves, and this issue has come up several times. One example was of a Eur. starling fooling an experienced birder into thinking he was hearing an EARLY spring migrant -- in the dead of winter.
And then there are the Blue Jays. Here in central, upstate New York, some of them seem to have developed the ability to mimic hawks in order to get more food. This spring, two birders on my listserve mentioned they had heard the call of a Red-shouldered Hawk before they were due to arrive, only to find a Blue Jay doing the calling. This was near bird feeders. One day two summers ago, i went looking and looking in the trees of my backyard , positive (and very excited) that i had a hawk of some kind perched nearby. Nope. You guessed it; it was a Blue Jay, doing short, high-pitched "kyup"s.
And in January of last year, i was visiting the home of a very experienced and active birder who, because of location, irruption, and LOTS of feeders, was attracting large numbers of many far-northern species -- like Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, and Crossbill. Several people were there that day, even a birding club, i think. It was a relaxed atmosphere, and most people were standing around conversing in between viewing the birds eating at the feeders. Suddenly, we heard a hawk call, very nearby. All the small birds fled the feeders and we went running to look for the hawk. What did we see? A single Blue Jay, which flew in to eat at the feeder of its choice! No hawk was there at all. The home-owner birder (who was at the head of the group running to find the "hawk") said the same thing had happened earlier in the week.
Anyone have a similar story?
