Subject: [Tweeters] Steller's Jay: Has anyone else seen/heard this?
Date: Oct 30 20:59:13 2008
From: Lyn Topinka - pointers at pacifier.com



hi ...

my local Steller's Jay screeches like an Eagle, makes tapping sounds
like a Woodpecker, and just lately we heard him chatter like a
Squirrel ...it's in the nature of the bird and it's called "mimicry"
... the Cornell website "Birds of North America Online" explains it
somewhat if you're a subscriber to that ...

Lyn





At 08:40 PM 10/30/2008, Gary or Diana Cummins wrote:
>Hello all...We live a few miles south of Port Townsend, above
>Discovery Bay. This year we've had a juvenile Red-Tail Hawk in the
>neighborhood and were lucky enough to seen him make a shallow dive
>into a field close to us and snare a wood rat a couple of weeks
>ago. We often hear him also...making that distinctive Red-Tail,
>high-pitched, raspy shriek (as in any number of Western movie
>scenes). Today I heard the cry close by but couldn't spot
>him. Heard it again, then again. I went inside and got by binocs
>and began scanning the sky and trees around the place. Aiming
>toward the sound I saw a Steller's Jay in a nearby evergreen and saw
>him put his head forward and make the call...a pretty darned good
>imitation of a Red-Tail. There were a couple of other Steller's in
>the general area, but not much else. Has anyone heard/seen a
>Steller's Jay do this and does anyone know why they do it?
>
>Gary Cummins
>Port Townsend, WA
>casacummins at yahoo.com
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>Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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Lyn Topinka
http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com
http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com
http://RidgefieldBirds.com