Outdoor Ontario

Discussion => Behaviour => Topic started by: spatsycat on May 28, 2010, 12:35:59 AM

Title: Blue Jay that sounds like a Red-Tailed Hawk
Post by: spatsycat on May 28, 2010, 12:35:59 AM: For at least 2 weeks now, my neighbour and I have been searching the trees on our street for a Red-Tailed Hawk that has been calling away at various times of the day.
Were we surprised to find it was a Blue Jay that sounds exactly like a hawk! Has anyone heard of this before? Seems strange that the Jay has managed to 'mimic' the hawk's call so well! Any ideas?
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Post by: ravynne40 on May 28, 2010, 03:38:32 AM: i found this info on blue jays, apparently this is true!

http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=5 (http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=5)
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Post by: spatsycat on May 28, 2010, 09:13:52 AM: Thanks so much ravynne40! I listened to the calls on that site and heard many I recognize. Wish I could record ours tho' as he/she seems to have mastered the hawk better than those recorded - it's very uncanny how hawk-like it sounds! It's the high screech call we hear. Too bad the article can't illuminate why/how they learned to do that - fascinating.
Almost sounds like some poor Jay was raised by hawks and has an identity crisis!
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Post by: Brian Bailey on May 28, 2010, 01:38:04 PM: Yes, Blue Jays have a very wide range of vocalizations. You can often hear some soft cooing and flute-like notes in the summer, especially if you come across a family group.

BB
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Post by: TomTelford on July 18, 2010, 10:54:08 PM: We've got some here that seem to be immitating the woodpeckers' "laugh". I jump for my camera every time I hear it only to be dissappointed... Oh well.

Tom.
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Post by: Pat Hodgson on July 21, 2010, 02:28:07 PM: I've heard them do red-shouldered hawk and broad-winged hawk calls too.
Title: Blue Jay - Hawk sound
Post by: Bill & Jaye on July 23, 2010, 07:58:34 PM: Wow! Mystery solved!
We have been hearing a red tail hawk cry but have never seen the red tail hawk right around here. I was completly confused. So thanks to this web site, we now know its most likely a jay.
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Post by: zx003 on August 08, 2010, 01:03:57 AM: And I thought I was crazy when I heard a Red Shouldered Hawk hiding in my hedge! :wink:
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Post by: mr.sharp-photo on September 06, 2010, 10:59:52 AM: at 6 AM, i'd been hearing a RTH call from my front yard. it happened a few times. nary a hawk in site, but i finally saw a blue jay fly away or i would hear the call followed up with the typical jay call after.
this winter, i also heard the RTH call from Lambton Woods. but it was always a blue jay.
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Post by: ravynne40 on September 06, 2010, 11:54:50 AM: There are hawks in Lambton woods, I saw one but didn't get close enough to make an ID and I saw a few flying over head but way up too high to determined which Hawks they were.
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Post by: birderinontario on October 26, 2010, 01:08:04 PM: Birding is hard enough already! This makes it even tougher for a newbie. I find there are few birds I can identify by sound but once I see a bird, then its call always makes sense! :D
Title: mimicking birds
Post by: Howieh on October 26, 2010, 03:42:49 PM: If you think a bluejay makes things difficult just wait until you encounter a mockingbird. I saw one in the Humber Arboretum that had more 'voices' than Rich Little!
Title: sounds
Post by: Napper on October 27, 2010, 07:08:29 PM: try this

More comprehensive.

http://www.naturesongs.com/pass.html (http://www.naturesongs.com/pass.html)

Napper :)

here are a few more

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/99/_/Blue_Jay.aspx (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/99/_/Blue_Jay.aspx)

probably the best site out there is http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/blue_jay/id (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/blue_jay/id)
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Post by: Axeman on October 29, 2010, 12:39:11 PM: I've noticed they have such a wide variety of calls -- I figured the calls were common to the species but I"m wondering if little communities have their own special calls....I'm convinced that some of the calls I hear around my place were the inspiration for the vocalizations of the velacorapters in Jurassic Park...and their behaviour too...they hang out in little sneaky packs....

This summer, apparently we had a blue jay nest in a cedar tree just behind our deck...I was kinda wondering about it but we get them in the cedar bush a lot...we have feeders adjacent to it sooo....anyway, I found a fledgling one day...confirmed it for me...I'm sure I can pinpoint the tree but never did find the nest...the fledgling was good to go...looked like a mini blue jay...pretty cute.

I find them hypocritical though...I mean they mob predators and yet, they're predatory too.
Title: Re: mimicking birds
Post by: Bird Brain on October 29, 2010, 02:00:10 PM: Quote from: "Howieh"
If you think a bluejay makes things difficult just wait until you encounter a mockingbird. I saw one in the Humber Arboretum that had more 'voices' than Rich Little!
:lol: Good one!

Yeah ... I'm amazed at some of the imitations/sounds Blue Jays, Mockingbirds and Crows make! :D
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Post by: skyviewer on October 30, 2010, 09:29:36 PM: Yes i have noticed this as well. I hear a hawk, i look for a hawk but can't find one. I have heard blue jays calling like this numerous times. Even after hearing it numeroustimes they still trick me into scanning the skies for a raptor. They must be the jokesters of the bird kingdom