A short time ago, I was standing at the garage door, which is on the side of
the house away from the dreadful wind, when a Blue Jay crossed the driveway and
landed in the maple tree, overhead. As soon as it landed it started with a
Red-tail Hawk imitation, so I recorded it with Merlin. Merlin cheerfully told
me I was hearing a Red-tail :-). I posted an incidental eBird list, and
attached the recording. It’s not very good…the wind sounds are awful, with the
shrubbery scraping against the house, etc., but you can plainly hear the call
at about 13 and again at about 18 seconds.
As I’m writing this, it flew back in the other direction, making a good old
Blue Jay call.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S105123605
Stephen Tyson, Schochoh
On Mar 18, 2022, at 5:33 PM, Sean Ward <sean.et.cetera@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sounds I’m used to hearing out back include…
Faux-shouldered Hawk (Blue Jay)
Faux-tailed Hawk (Blue Jay once again)
Killdeer from a Starling… it’s why the few times I’ve had an actual Killdeer
it’s be a treat
Eastern Phoebe-like calls from a Starling
There are a number of other sounds I can’t recall right now from the
Starlings that are never the bird I want them to be. I’ve gotten used to the
Blue Jay calls only because Red-shouldered and Red-tailed are around and make
the real calls often enough to keep my ears tuned correctly.
For those of you who made it this far in my message, I did get some FOY Tree
Swallows at the MSD pond. I also just realized there’s a Bald Eagle nest
over there… the bright sign saying “Do Not Enter Bald Eagle Nest” gave it
away though. 😃
Sean Ward
Louisville
Sent from Mail for Windows
From: Joyce Fry
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2022 5:12 PM
To: archilochus79@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: de_lang@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; BIRDKY; brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [birdky] Re: Odd sounds . . . .
That can certainly be a problem for those of us who frequently bird by ear.
Has anyone recorded one of those mimics with Merlin?
On Mar 18, 2022, at 4:43 PM, Jeremy Teague <archilochus79@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Same here on the blue jay / red-shouldered hawk. I can usually tell the mimic
from the real thing, but this one fooled me the other day until I laid eyes
on it.
I’ve heard starlings make all kinds of sounds but never heard one mimic a
predator like that. I’m going to choose to believe that bird was a
mischievous prankster having some fun.
Jeremy Teague
Calvert City, KY
On Fri, Mar 18, 2022 at 3:20 PM David Lang <de_lang@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have had a Blue Jay imitating a Red-shouldered Hawk around my place.
David Lang
Scott County
On Thursday, March 17, 2022, 12:45:56 PM EDT, brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yesterday morning I heard the "kek-kek-kek-kek" call of a Cooper's Hawk and a
couple of alarm notes from a starling; I looked up to see a flock of about
25-30 starlings zooming thru the trees southward and looked for the pursuing
Coop behind them. Then the "Coop" called again and I realized it was one of
the starlings *imitating* a Cooper's Hawk! I've never encountered that
before; not sure if there was really a Coop nearby and the one starling was
imitating Coop to alert the others . . . or if the one starling was a
practical joker and got the whole flock to flee with the call? ? ?
On the farm the past few days I've just gotten little snippets of what has
sounded like the song of my breeding season Summer Tanager. However,
yesterday I got a little better listen to it and realized that it is one of
the local mockingbirds imitating Summer Tanager! Another attempt to fool me
into thinking spring is a bit farther along than it really is . . . .
bpb, Louisville
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