[birding] Steller's Jay imitating Blue Jay

[willwright26 at q.com]

The pair of Steller's that have been hanging tough despite the constant 
harassment from Scrub Jays in my yard were doing a wonderful imitation of a 
Cooper's Hawk this spring/summer.

--Will

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Michael Dossett" <phainopepla at yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 10:34 AM
To: "OBOL" <obol at oregonbirdwatch.org>; "Corvallis birds" 
<list at midvalleybirding.org>
Subject: [birding] Steller's Jay imitating Blue Jay

> Hi everyone,
>
> This morning while eating breakfast I was startled by the sound of a Blue 
> Jay calling from the spruce tree off the deck where I have sunflower seeds 
> sprinkled.  It called a few times and then started doing an imitation of a 
> Red-shouldered Hawk a few times before it stopped calling.  I looked 
> around but all I could find were Steller's Jays chowing down on the seed. 
> About 10 minutes later I heard what I assume to be the same bird giving a 
> very clear Blue Jay call.  Finally, a Steller's Jay landed on the deck 
> rail and opened its bill and gave a perfect imitation of a Blue Jay.
>
> I've never seen this before, though I suppose I shouldn't be totally 
> surprised.  I wonder just where this bird came in contact with Blue Jays 
> to learn this call.  The thought crossed my mind that it could be a 
> Steller's Jay from further east that has moved into this area but it was 
> still quite dark out (~7:20) so I couldn't get really great looks at 
> plumage details.
>
> I guess now whenever I hear a Blue Jay I should be sure to get visual 
> confirmation of the ID.  Has anyone else experienced this?
>
> Michael
>
>
> Michael Dossett
> Corvallis, Oregon
> www.Mdossettphoto.com
> phainopepla at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
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