[obol] Scrub Jay song

[Larry Mcqueen]

Birders:

 

Who says jays don't sing?  Each afternoon for several weeks now, a Scrub Jay
is perched on our telephone line over the garden and sings like a thrasher.
The song is a rapid series of imitations, with the same drive as a Catbird's
but at less volume.  A song may last for a minute or more and there is a
pause of maybe 15 to 60 seconds between songs.  I have often heard jays sing
in a similar manner, but not one that sang with the regularity and length of
this one.  This bird has talent!  

 

These jay songs have been termed, "conversational notes" rather than songs,
I guess because they are not loud songs; one needs close proximity to hear
them.  But there is no conversation; the singing bird appears to be
solitary. 

 

I don't have a way to get a good recording of it, but I would like to turn
up the volume and determine what it's imitating.  I can snatch some robin,
nuthatch, flicker, and other familiar sounds, but the song is rich in
variety.

 

Larry McQueen

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