So I went outside, I put out some birdseed for the birds and some kibble for the International Cat of Mystery (who I didn't see, but I put out kibble anyway) and I made the "kee-kee!" noise that, I don't actually know what it means in Blue Jay, it's the only one I can imitate.
Five jays in 5m.
OMG earlier today we had: one (1) actual blue jay and four (4) magpies, of whom one was IMITATING the jay (apparently for annoyance purposes???)
It was VERY, VERY CLOSE
Yikes! Here they just make cheap sci-fi sound effect noises and beg for fries or tortilla chips, which are salty and terrible for them.
Why were they attacking you?
In both cases, they'd built a nest in a well-traveled area, and the boy was driving off threats. For the one at the shopping center, *lots* of people got attacked.
Just quick hits to the head as fly-bys.
Ours gather in huge numbers in the trees in grocery store parking lots. And appear to mostly be yelling at each other about who owns which tree.
But they don’t aggressively defend them, maybe because so many cars and people come through.
I have crows and blue jays, but specifically directly around the house only blue jays because they actively chase away the crows. It’s both hilarious and dismaying because I wanted crow friends, but I have zero levels in Avian Diplomacy.
We get a few owls here, which is really cool. The only frequent bird interaction I have is with the female cardinal who tries to fight our house every year.
Around the house we have, off the top of my head, the blue jays, robins, towhees, mockingbirds, catbirds, cardinals, at least one brown thrasher with a taste for cat food, mourning doves who have decided one mulberry tree is theirs thank you very much, and a Cooper’s hawk pair.
We get a few robins and wrens, and the occasional goldfinch or cedar waxwing. There used to be turkey and black vultures in the area but I think they’ve mainly moved away from houses. I think it’s the same pair of great horned owls who come back every year, but I hear more than see them.
