PSA: A blue jay scream changed my whole morning routine

Was making coffee at 5:30 AM last Tuesday when a blue jay started screeching nonstop outside my kitchen window. Turned out a Cooper's hawk was perched on my neighbor's fence. Now I leave the window cracked every morning just to hear the alarm calls. Anyone else use bird sounds to spot predators before they hit your feeders?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy26d ago

One time I was changing the oil on a customer's truck and heard this insane racket outside the shop. Sounded like a chicken being strangled but way louder. Looked out the bay door and a blue jay was going ballistic at a stray cat that was creeping toward some bushes. That cat never came back near my shop again. I started keeping the bay door cracked a little after that, not even for the feeders but just to hear what those birds are yelling about. They really are the neighborhood watch of the bird world. Now every time I hear that specific screech I stop and look around before I even touch a wrench.

dianahayes26d ago

All that noise just trains your brain to panic every time a blue jay sneezes.

julia54926d ago

Wait, has a blue jay actually sneezed near you while you were birdwatching? I think you're kind of right that constant alerts can make you jumpy, but it's not quite like training a brain to panic over every little noise. It's more like our brains get used to filtering out background sounds, and sudden loud calls from birds or squirrels can catch us off guard because we're not used to them. I've noticed that when I'm in a super quiet house and then a crow caws right outside, it jolts me way more than if I'd been listening to music or had the TV on. So it's less about panic and more about our brains being on alert for a change in the usual sounds. The real problem is that constant quiet makes us sensitive to ANY noise, not that we're scared of blue jays specifically.