What if your snack… talked back?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Birds often copy each other, but some even mimic their predators. Why?
Enter Trinity Harvey and team at Cal Poly Humboldt.
They tracked forty-nine Steller’s Jays in California. For a year, researchers followed the Jays and their predator, the Red-Shouldered Hawk. They recorded when and where the Jays would imitate the hawks’ calls.
About a quarter of jays mimicked predators. Typically, they were younger, bolder, and bigger. And their fake hawk cries? Mostly produced during breeding season, on home turf, near their mates.
These “prank calls” may help jays defend nests, protect mates, or show off their strength.
Turns out crying wolf is for the birds!
Reference: Harvey, T. C., Gabriel, P. O., & Black, J. M. (2024). Propensity of predator mimicry in Steller’s Jays. Birds, 5(1), 173–189. https://doi.org/10.3390/birds5010012