[NatureNS] Bird behavior question

References: <BAY112-W4590569EBDBDE34820C6F4B70E0@phx.gbl> <C88075018B577047A20051B36C1BF78708844105@emss52m04.ca.lmco.com> <004701c882bd$90ad1070$0b02a8c0@John>
From: Andrew Horn <aghorn@dal.ca>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:28:35 -0300
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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MS";color:blue'&gt;John&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span

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Hi John,

Blue Jay courting is indeed starting now, and males feeding females =20
is part of that.

Hitch is, the jays are still in loose flocks that are ranging widely, =20=

even though many of the flock members are mated pairs. Plus there's a =20=

small portion of jays that are migratory, and will still be moving up =20=

to late April. So best bet is to wait until then to write the "D". Or =20=

better yet, just wait for those noisy fledglings.

Cheers,
Andy Horn
Halifax

On Mar 10, 2008, at 11:46 AM, John Kearney wrote:

> This Blue Jay behaviour raises for me an interesting question in =20
> terms of =93breeding status=94 for the Bird Atlas. For example, I see =20=

> Blue Jays (presumably males) offering food to other Blue Jays =20
> (presumably females), long before their breeding period as defined =20
> in the Atlas documents. Does this behaviour rate a =93D=94 status even =
=20
> when it is performed in March? Or do the Blue Jays establish pairs =20
> outside, possibly far outside, their breeding territory. The Atlas =20
> documents indicate that the breeding period of Blue Jays begins in =20
> the last week of April.
>
> John
>
>
>
> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-=20
> owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Laviolette, Lance (EXP)
> Sent: March 10, 2008 10:52 AM
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Bird behavior question
>
>
>
> Hi Fritz,
>
>
>
> While I haven't come across another description of Blue Jays =20
> performing this 'head down' behaviour, it is a known threat display =20=

> of Semipalmated Sandpipers. Since this is the time of year when =20
> Blue Jays start to perform their social displays, you've probably =20
> witnessed a dominance display taking place along these lines. I've =20
> had up to 35 Blue Jays in my apple tree for the last two weeks, =20
> bopping their heads and calling, perhaps males trying to convince =20
> females to ignore the mountains of snow in this area and begin =20
> mating and nest building. I don't think the females are falling for =20=

> it...
>
>
>
> All the best,
>
>
>
> Lance
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D
> Lance Laviolette
> Glen Robertson, Ontario
>
> lance.laviolette@lmco.com
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D
>
>
>
> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-=20
> owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Fritz McEvoy
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 9:24 AM
> To: NATURE, NS
> Subject: [NatureNS] Bird behavior question
>
> Hi All,
>    While watching two Blue Jays squabble yesterday I noted a =20
> behaviour that I hadn't observed before. Both birds stopped =20
> fighting and placed their heads, opposite each other, flat on the =20
> surface of my deck where the dispute was taking place. They =20
> repeated this action a few times holding the position for a few =20
> seconds each time. One bird then flew off and the remaining bird =20
> did the action one more time before leaving.
>    Has anyone ever seen this behaviour? What was the meaning of =20
> this odd behaviour?  All the best.
>                        Fritz McEvoy
>                          Sunrise Valley CB
>
> Snap and Share.  =46rom your phone to your space.  Post your pics =
here.
>
>


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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi John,<DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Blue Jay courting is indeed =
starting now, and males feeding females is part of that.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Hitch is, the jays are =
still in loose flocks that are ranging widely, even though many of the =
flock members are mated pairs. Plus there's a small portion of jays that =
are migratory, and will still be moving up to late April. So best bet is =
to wait until then to write the "D". Or better yet, just wait for those =
noisy fledglings.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers,</DIV><DIV>Andy =
Horn</DIV><DIV>Halifax</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 10, 2008, at 11:46 =
AM, John Kearney wrote:</DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><SPAN =
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white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><O:SMARTTAGTYPE =
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ms";color:blue;=3D"" color:=3D"" rgb(0,=3D"" 0,=3D"" 255);=3D"" =
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style=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: =
13.3333px; ">This Blue Jay behaviour raises for me an interesting =
question in terms of =93breeding status=94 for the Bird Atlas. For =
example, I see Blue Jays (presumably males) offering food to other Blue =
Jays (presumably females), long before their breeding period as defined =
in the Atlas documents. Does this behaviour rate a =93D=94 status even =
when it is performed in March? Or do the Blue Jays establish pairs =
outside, possibly far outside, their breeding territory. The Atlas =
documents indicate that the breeding period of Blue Jays begins in the =
last week of April.</SPAN><O:P style=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 255); =
font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 13.3333px; =
"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class=3D"Ms