Re: [cobirds] Blue jays

[Joe Roller]

Thanks for taking your time to provide this valuable and intriguing answer,
Nathan.
Joe

On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 6:21 AM Nathan Pieplow  wrote:

> Jace,
>
> The rattle calls of jays have been shown to be given by females, usually
> dominant females. If they are ever given by males, it's apparently very
> rare. So this sounds to me like a case of a dominant female asserting her
> dominance at your feeder.
>
> eBird and Audubon don't have this kind of detailed information on bird
> behavior. The place to get that is the Birds of North America online, which
> is a subscription service.
>
> Another good resource is petersonbirdsounds.com, the website that
> accompanies my Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds. There you can listen to
> examples of the Blue Jay rattle calls, among many other sounds the species
> makes. (There is even an example of a Blue Jay imitation of a Cooper's
> Hawk, to tie in an earlier COBirds thread.)
>
> On Mon, Jul 8, 2019, 9:28 AM Joe Roller  wrote:
>
>> Jace,
>> Layman's answer = educated guess.
>> Many species have a pecking order, with more dominant and more submissive
>> members, as you know.
>> Most birds, especially males, defend breeding territories, again, common
>> knowledge.
>> Some have more loosely defined winter feeding territories, which they may
>> defend, usually not
>> as vigorously.
>> That Blue Jay behavior seems to be a dominant male (OR FEMALE) defending
>> a food supply.
>> The rattling sound and bouncing  movements I assume are "threat displays"
>> like human males "putting up their fists"or shouting or standing taller.
>> Nathan Pieplow describes a Blue Jay rattle "all year" by females" on p
>> 307, "Peterson field guide to bird sounds of western North America" but
>> males vocalizations are highly variable, so not sure of gender of your jay.
>>
>> Joe Roller, Denver
>> Cool observation. Try to record it next time.
>> And give details of behavior in a comment section or your eBird report
>> for that day.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 8:14 AM Jace Wesley Brasher 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello, this morning I experienced a male blue jay protecting a tree from
>>> other males. After he had won the battle he went to the feeder got some
>>> peanuts and went back to his tree. As he sat at the very top of the tree he
>>> started to bounce up and down and make a rattling sound. I have never seen
>>> anything like this before, even after 14 years of watching them. Does
>>> anyone know why he was doing this? Why is it not on ebird or Audubon?
>>>
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>>> 
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Re: [cobirds] Blue jays

[Nathan Pieplow]

Jace,

The rattle calls of jays have been shown to be given by females, usually
dominant females. If they are ever given by males, it's apparently very
rare. So this sounds to me like a case of a dominant female asserting her
dominance at your feeder.

eBird and Audubon don't have this kind of detailed information on bird
behavior. The place to get that is the Birds of North America online, which
is a subscription service.

Another good resource is petersonbirdsounds.com, the website that
accompanies my Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds. There you can listen to
examples of the Blue Jay rattle calls, among many other sounds the species
makes. (There is even an example of a Blue Jay imitation of a Cooper's
Hawk, to tie in an earlier COBirds thread.)

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019, 9:28 AM Joe Roller  wrote:

> Jace,
> Layman's answer = educated guess.
> Many species have a pecking order, with more dominant and more submissive
> members, as you know.
> Most birds, especially males, defend breeding territories, again, common
> knowledge.
> Some have more loosely defined winter feeding territories, which they may
> defend, usually not
> as vigorously.
> That Blue Jay behavior seems to be a dominant male (OR FEMALE) defending a
> food supply.
> The rattling sound and bouncing  movements I assume are "threat displays"
> like human males "putting up their fists"or shouting or standing taller.
> Nathan Pieplow describes a Blue Jay rattle "all year" by females" on p
> 307, "Peterson field guide to bird sounds of western North America" but
> males vocalizations are highly variable, so not sure of gender of your jay.
>
> Joe Roller, Denver
> Cool observation. Try to record it next time.
> And give details of behavior in a comment section or your eBird report for
> that day.
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 8:14 AM Jace Wesley Brasher 
> wrote:
>
>> Hello, this morning I experienced a male blue jay protecting a tree from
>> other males. After he had won the battle he went to the feeder got some
>> peanuts and went back to his tree. As he sat at the very top of the tree he
>> started to bounce up and down and make a rattling sound. I have never seen
>> anything like this before, even after 14 years of watching them. Does
>> anyone know why he was doing this? Why is it not on ebird or Audubon?
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
>> To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
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>> 
>> .
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>>
>

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[cobirds] Blue jays

[Jace Wesley Brasher]

Hello, this morning I experienced a male blue jay protecting a tree from
other males. After he had won the battle he went to the feeder got some
peanuts and went back to his tree. As he sat at the very top of the tree he
started to bounce up and down and make a rattling sound. I have never seen
anything like this before, even after 14 years of watching them. Does
anyone know why he was doing this? Why is it not on ebird or Audubon?

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[cobirds] Blue Jays at 6600' altitude/Douglas County

[Clint]

Three Blue Jays were screaming today east side of Lake Waconda in Perry 
Park. First I have seen here and this high. Also FOS Western Tanager along 
with the usual feeder birds - Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, both Chickadees, C 
Grackles, RW Blackbirds, Spotted Towhees, D Woodpecker, and more.

Clint Jones
Larkspur, CO
Douglas County

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[cobirds] Blue Jays in Trinidad

[pinyonjay]

Three blue jays at my feeder at 1200 Santa Fe Trail in Trinidad today, Oct. 23.

Pat Snider 
719-846-3174
pinyon...@aol.com

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[cobirds] Blue jays sounding like hawks?

[Kristy Lantz Astry]

Hi all,

On Saturday I thought I heard a hawk (that piercing whistle that
fades) in my neighborhood, but never saw it. Heard it again yesterday
followed by the gurgling noise that blue jays make. So am I hearing
blue jays mimicking hawks? If so, they're darn talented! Thanks.

-- 
Kristy Lantz Astry
Erie, CO

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[cobirds] Blue Jays in Trinidad, Las Animas Co.

[Pinyonjay]

Just had EIGHT blue jays together at my feeder in Trinidad at Santa Fe  
Trail and Jefferson, 9:30 on November 14.  They are not present every  day.  
After 50 years of western jays, I had forgotten how pretty they  are.
 
Pat Snider
719 846-3174
_pinyon...@aol.com_ (mailto:pinyon...@aol.com) 

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[cobirds] blue jays - Denver

[Karl Stecher Jr.]

I encountered a flock of about 35-40 blue jays at Downing and Speer today, 
just before noon and about 4 hours before the snow started to fall.  This is 
by far the most I have ever seen at one time in Colorado. 


Karl Stecher
Centennial

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