Kurt et al,
Just as a interesting note on the subject I can mention that both the
European Jay and Siberian Jay imitate buteo hawks as well, mostly the
Common Buzzard but also the Rough-legged Hawk/Buzzard. I agree with Bill
in his hypothesis to the function of this curious behavior.

Frode Jacobsen
Windsor Mill, Md 21244
www.flickr.com/photos/frodejacobsen/


> Hey Kurt,
>
> It really is an interesting behavior, and I have my own anecdotal evidence
> that Blue Jays can learn unconventional calls. As you said, most of us
> have seen Blue Jays drive other birds away by imitating a scary
> predator--usually a Red-shouldered or a Red-tailed Hawk. (It's interesting
> that they're so much better at the former.) There are probably a number of
> good uses for this trick, but the most common I've seen is to scare away
> competitors at a food source. We have a lot of Blue Jays in our
> neighborhood, and they often do Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk calls
> as they approach our feeders. Being so close to Fort Smallwood, our local
> birds have probably encountered all of the area's expected raptors.
> However, at this time of year, the most common raptors around are Ospreys.
> Apparently one of our local birds found these very vocal, soaring giants
> pretty intimidating, and it started imitating Ospreys as it would land on
> our feeders. This went on for a
>  while, and it must have been disappointed when it didn't elicit a strong
> reaction. (The birds definitely didn't flush as often as they would have
> in response to Buteo calls.)  This not only provided quality
> entertainment, but also strongly suggested that Blue Jays can learn to
> imitate other scary predators that they encounter. As to their
> versatility, our local rehabilitated bird does a pretty impressive
> cordless phone and wolf whistle!  I'd be interested in any other
> imitations people have seen.
>
> Something new every day! :)
>
> Bill
>
>  Bill Hubick
> Pasadena, Maryland
> 
> http://www.billhubick.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Kurt R. Schwarz <>
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] Blue Jays Imitating Accipiters?
>
>