Why do Blue Jays mimic hawks? (1 Viewer)

[Tired]

The Blue Jays in my area can do a wonderfully accurate Red-shouldered Hawk call. They're good enough at it that I can't always tell which bird is making the sound, and when I can tell, it's usually because it's a hawk that has added some additional notes the jays usually don't bother with. Or because I've seen the culprit and the other species of bird is clearly nowhere in evidence. More often than not, it's a jay.

My question is, why? I've seen them sitting in trees or on fences, making hawk sounds, with no hawk in sight. So I don't think it's meant to point out the hawk to other birds. I'd think it was to scare other birds away, except that they'll do it when not near food, water, or anything else that they might want to defend. Could it be that they just like the sound, or are scaring other birds for the fun of it? I try not to anthropomorphize, but given that crows are known to follow larger animals and pull their tails for no evident reason other than to bother them, maybe jays also like to annoy other animals.

 

[Xenospiza]

Eurasian Jays can imitate Common Buzzard really well. Interestingly, in places where there were no buzzards they would imitate Tawny Owl.
It is not so clear why they do this.
They might scare away other birds, or attract songbirds away from their nests, or just impress their potential partners.

 

[Clip]

The Blue Jays in my area can do a wonderfully accurate Red-shouldered Hawk call. They're good enough at it that I can't always tell which bird is making the sound, and when I can tell, it's usually because it's a hawk that has added some additional notes the jays usually don't bother with. Or because I've seen the culprit and the other species of bird is clearly nowhere in evidence. More often than not, it's a jay.

My question is, why? I've seen them sitting in trees or on fences, making hawk sounds, with no hawk in sight. So I don't think it's meant to point out the hawk to other birds. I'd think it was to scare other birds away, except that they'll do it when not near food, water, or anything else that they might want to defend. Could it be that they just like the sound, or are scaring other birds for the fun of it? I try not to anthropomorphize, but given that crows are known to follow larger animals and pull their tails for no evident reason other than to bother them, maybe jays also like to annoy other animals.

I have heard it is their attempt to scare away the competition for food. Like you I have also heard Blue Jays mimic Red-shoulders but also Cooper's Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks. Blue Jays eat much the same food as other small birds and if they can keep the competition away by sounding like a predator it is more food for them.

 

[James Bracher]

The Blue Jays in my area can do a wonderfully accurate Red-shouldered Hawk call. They're good enough at it that I can't always tell which bird is making the sound, and when I can tell, it's usually because it's a hawk that has added some additional notes the jays usually don't bother with. Or because I've seen the culprit and the other species of bird is clearly nowhere in evidence. More often than not, it's a jay.

My question is, why? I've seen them sitting in trees or on fences, making hawk sounds, with no hawk in sight. So I don't think it's meant to point out the hawk to other birds. I'd think it was to scare other birds away, except that they'll do it when not near food, water, or anything else that they might want to defend. Could it be that they just like the sound, or are scaring other birds for the fun of it? I try not to anthropomorphize, but given that crows are known to follow larger animals and pull their tails for no evident reason other than to bother them, maybe jays also like to annoy other animals.

I heard a jay mimic tawny owl today whilst slinking through some dense woodland. I reckon it was trying to get small birds nesting near by to mob it so it could work out where the nests are that could be predated. James B. North Devon

 

[KC Foggin]

Blue Jays are great at mimicking other bird calls.