Has anyone come across a Jay mimicking a cat miaow? We have one visiting our garden and the similarity is uncanny! All the cats just don't know what to make of it...
Hi rumbers
Welcome to the fourms .
I have heard that Jays are real good Mimmiks but never heard one myself . But have heard a rook do some ringtones . That was kinda funny.
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Cheers
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!
Haven't heard a Jay do that, but if they are anything like Starlings then yes, ha ha as they can mimic just about anything :0)
An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .
Welcome to the RSPB forums. I hope that you enjoy it here. :-)
I've never heard of a jay mimicking a cat either, but there are plenty of birds that do mimic sounds that they hear.
As Sheena says starlings are very good mimics. I have a starling visitor that does an excellent red kite whistle. All of the other birds start looking around warily when they hear it, and even I look up into the sky :-)
Best wishes Chris
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I have not heard a jay mimic a cat either but they are certainly capable of mimicry, i have heard them doing a very good buzzard mew a few times in the past which can be really confusing!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
There are very few jays round here, so I can't vouch for their mimicing abilities, but the rest of the crow family are pretty good at it!
Superb jackdaw mimic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk_8TdtGuiI&playnext_from=TL&videos=AGKe2hZYyxU
Miaowing crow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_izmoV-4p8
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
I know this question was posted a while back, but I had to answer, because today I thought I heard a Buzzard mewing. I tracked down the tree and it wasn't a Buzzard, it was a Jay. I never knew Jay's mimicked, but obviously they do!
Saw Irish ornithologist Sean Ronayne programme on BBC4 last night, Wednesday 12th March, entitled Birdsong, where he recorded the call of every bird species in Ireland. He recorded a Jay barking like a dog! His own dog was below the tree, not barking, and Sean suggests that the Jay recognised that there was a dog below and barked to scare the dog away. Amazing programme
Thanks for sharing Heather Milne , I just watched this - Birdsong - what an inspiring film. The jay barking was fascinating, though the last pair of ring ouzels in Ireland was heartbreaking, but followed by the amazing starling murmuration. Well worth watching
In our last woodland garden we had a lot of Jays and found they are incredibly clever members of the corvid family and are good mimics. I recorded this sound (next day it happened again and could see the Jay so know for sure it was a Jay making this strange almost electronic sound). Ignore the robin in the background !!
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Regards, Hazel
Pleased you watched and enjoyed it Adam. I know, the ring ouzels was very sad.