Re: [Maine-birds] Musical Blue Jay

Sean, you obviously have more than a passing interest in music! I hope you are able to record this singer.

Maggie Strickland

Harmony, Maine

On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 4:13 PM Sean S <therefromhere168@gmail.com> wrote:

I heard several Blue Jays in the woods behind the house today, stirred up over something, with excited "queedle queedle" calls etc.  Nothing unusual or noteworthy, but one kept repeating a musical phrase, in what sounded like perfect pitch:  A flat (below middle C) to F, a minor 3rd interval.   Its durations were regular for a short time also:  A flat for a quarter note's time, followed by a 3-quarter note F.   So in the key of F minor.  If it had repeated the phrases in regular rhythm I would have been astounded, but the phrases were random and mixed up with the other jays' chatter.   My guess is it overheard someone playing monotonous loud music; that type of interval is frequent in hip hop.   Too late getting my phone but I'll be listening for this bird to try to get a recording.

The only other really talented mimics of this caliber I've heard before were a Starling imitating a car engine attempting to start, and one that imitated my former neighbor's always-the-same calling to her dog, "Max, Max".

Sean Smith

--
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/CABipT0xkt7Xbz-yqc-xHN%2BWMMQX6RcXXmwthcZ-0HaLKb2tMQA%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/CALtjMAgcAZEho1cdC-v%2B%2BZZtvZC5_%2BMTE-dyhOE6R%3DEau%3DCYPQ%40mail.gmail.com.