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Had a blue jay freakout last week that taught me something about feeders
I was sitting on my porch in Akron last Tuesday and a blue jay started screaming like crazy at my sunflower seed feeder. At first I thought a cat was nearby but then I noticed a Cooper's hawk perched on the fence maybe 20 feet away. The jay kept at it for a good 5 minutes before the hawk flew off. It hit me that I never really paid attention to alarm calls before I just thought birds were squabbling. Anyone else notice specific birds acting as lookouts for predators in their yard?
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black.jake22d ago
Read somewhere that jays can mimic hawk calls to clear out feeders for themselves.
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grace_campbell22d ago
Wait, do they actually learn the hawk calls on purpose or is it just some weird coincidence? @harper_foster I noticed you mentioned cardinal behavior too. I've watched jays clear out my feeder twice this week and it was dead silent before they showed up. The smaller birds scatter like they heard a predator. I'm wondering if jays have figured out that hawk sounds work better than just flying in aggressive. My neighbor swears she saw a jay mimic a red-tailed hawk once and the whole yard went empty for an hour.
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