[birding] Steller's Jay imitating Blue Jay

[lisaaves at peak.org]

On the BBC series Planet Earth, there is a segment about northwestern
conifer forests featuring Steller's Jays...but they dubbed in Blue Jay
sounds...d'oh!  That mistake is the only time I've heard a Steller's Jay
sounding like a Blue Jay!
I've heard a Steller's Jay imitate a Bald Eagle sound.  I was looking
around on snags and in the sky, when the sound got surprisingly close.  A
conifer bough was bouncing suspiciously, and there was a rascally
Steller's Jay making the sound.
Another time Don & I heard a soft warbling song that sounded kind of like
a Purple Finch singing under his breath.  It was a Steller's Jay singing a
nice "whisper song" the way Western Scrub-Jays also do.
It's fun to hear them do their classic Red-tail Hawk scream, and judge how
convincing it is.  Some are truly gifted hawk mimics and make you look
around for the raptor, while others just let out a puny little wheeze and
call it good.  Especially with the really pathetic mimics, Don likes to
imitate the Red-tail call back to them to surprise them and tease them a
little.
I don't know how effective a hawk scream is for chasing away little birds
that are competing for food.  Will Wright mentioned some Steller's Jays
making Cooper's Hawk sounds, which would seem more effective at scaring
little birds than a Red-tail.  I'm sure they often do it for an important
reason, but other times I think they're just doing it purely for the
entertainment value.
Lisa
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com

> 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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