I believe I had an American Redstart in my yard today. I didn't see it, only
heard it. It sounded like one.
Also, heard a Starling mimicking a bird that I'm not sure of the other day. It
sounded something like tee-CHRR.......tee-CHRR, with a very short "tee,"
emphasis on the "chrr" and a pause of a second or two between calls. Any
thoughts?
Finally, I believe I had a Blue Jay mimicking a Red-shouldered Hawk right under
the hawk's nose - almost literally. I heard the sound and looked up to see if
it was the hawk or a Jay. AS I was looking up, I saw a RSH fly away and call,
but the other call was still audible after the hawk left and I saw no other
hawk in the tree the one that flew away was in, so I'm guessing it was a Blue
Jay. Perhaps one of the reasons Blue Jays mimic RSH's is to drive them away
when they are near - either to avoid becoming the hawk's next meal or just to
get the hawk to leave its (the Jay's) territory by getting it (the hawk) to
think it's in another hawk's territory. Is this possible?
Michael Shapiro
northern Henrico
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