Listen to the Alarms

[meowmensteen]

One thing I've learned about birding is that they often "tell" you when bigger birds are around. If you hear a lot of birds making their alarm sounds, it's a good idea to get out and look for what they're alarming about. This happened to me yesterday. I was sitting in my living room when I heard a bunch of crow going crazy outside. I looked out and saw them dive-bombing a nearby telephone pole. On top of the pole was a Red-Tailed Hawk. By the time I got outside with my camera, the hawk was in flight being chased by the crows:


I ended up over-exposing the shot since everything happened so fast. Birds don't wait for me to set my camera right haha.

Surprisingly one kind of bird alarm that helps me spot big birds is the Hummingbird alarm. Those little guys are pugnacious, and will go after the biggest birds. They once helped me spot a Barred Owl. Those little birds were alarming and zipping all around the owl trying their best to irritate it into leaving.

The Oregon Juncos in my back yard often tell me when a Jay or Cooper's Hawk is in the area.

Does anyone else have a story about how a bird alarm helped you spot a cool predator bird?

Comments

[narya_flame]

That's such a cool experience! Thank you for sharing.