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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / June 2004Crazy mockingbirds
So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting insane. They jump along the fence, chirping loudly, even going as far as to fly up and land on one of the terrace ceiling fan's blades right near the window! I was wondering why the birds were behaving so strangely; afterall this was not normal nest-building behavior, and those loud chirps are not normal mockingbird song. Eventually I correlated Lynxie's presence on the windowsill with this behavior! Yep, Lynxie's mere presence, relaxed and sleepy on the windowsill, lazily watching the birds through a CLOSED WINDOW, causes them to go into fits of insanity, even though the nest is like 40 feet away! What's funny is that when they get like this, they grab Lynxie's interest, compounding the situation. It's quite funny to see how daring the birds get, coming within 5 to 6 feet of the window if I'm not near it! Here's a few pictures: http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/bird-on-ceilingfan.jpg http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/lynxie-watches-bird.jpg http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/mockingbird-closeup.jpg -Z > http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/lynxie-watches-bird.jpg Wow. Great shots. I've never seen a ceiling fan on a porch before! Wow. Classy :) In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", Karen Chuplis <kchuplis@alltel.net> artfully composed this message within <news:BCF3B660.3239A%kchuplis@alltel.net> on 14 Jun 2004: >> http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/lynxie-watc >> hes-bird.jpg > > Wow. Great shots. I've never seen a ceiling fan on a porch > before! Wow. Classy :) I think the lawn in the shot is great. Very nice! I love that fence; wrought iron?  SignatureCheryl > In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", Karen Chuplis > <kchuplis@alltel.net> artfully composed this message within [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I think the lawn in the shot is great. Very nice! I love that fence; > wrought iron? Ceiling fans: You can't hang out on the terrace in 90 degree heat and be comfortable without ceiling fans going full blast. That's the Miami heat for ya! And yes, the fence is wrought iron. It's actually not as nice as it looks; it's 15 years old and is rusting in several places. Time to replace it; preferably with something that won't rust! }:) -Z > So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my > place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting > insane. They jump along the fence, chirping loudly, even going as far as > to fly up and land on one of the terrace ceiling fan's blades right near > the window! ...> -Z We have a mockingbird that hangs out on our chimney. It sings so loud that it sounds as if we have a bird somewhere in the house. The cats ignore it. Jim and I kind of like it because it chirps so many melodies. I'd hate to think what the top of our chimney looks like, though, with the amount of time that bird spends up there. I hope your mockingbirds don't make a mess on your fan blades or your patio. Annie In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", "Annie Wxill" <Annie_Wxill@hotmail.com> artfully composed this message within <news:callhb$nj8$1@newsreader.mailgate.org> on 14 Jun 2004: > We have a mockingbird that hangs out on our chimney. It sings > so loud that it sounds as if we have a bird somewhere in the > house. The cats ignore it. Jim and I kind of like it because it > chirps so many melodies. I have the opposite opinion. lol Not that I don?t like birds, but in the spring (they?ve just stopped doing this!!) the males will sing ALL night long. I sometimes picture these poor things dropping off to sleep in the middle of the day because they wore themselves out the night(s) before. SignatureCheryl > So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my > place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Here's a few pictures: http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/bird-on-ceilingfan.jpg http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/lynxie-watches-bird.jpg http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/mockingbird-closeup.jpg Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our very large balcony and these birds would dive bomb Vino, swooping down and taunting him. He would get so excited and chatter away, but he never got one. Oh, maybe once he got one. Anyway, the birds would then congregate on the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us and chirp sassily at Vino. Bastards!!! ;-) -- Britta Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered in fur! Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album >Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when >we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >-- >Britta Poor, tormented Vino. Birds *are* awful to cats. I don't know what kind they were, but there was some black birds that used to hop along the top of the wood fence & sass Cherokee. They'd finally lure him to the top, and being old tubbycat that he was, he'd fall off. I'm absolutely certain birds can laugh. Sherry sriddles@aol.comkitty (Sherry ) had some very interesting things to say about Re: Crazy mockingbirds: >Poor, tormented Vino. Birds *are* awful to cats. I don't know what kind they >were, but there was some black birds that used to hop along the top of the wood >fence & sass Cherokee. They'd finally lure him to the top, and being old >tubbycat that he was, he'd fall off. I'm absolutely certain birds can laugh. I've heard Avery laugh. He was especially pleased with himself the time he flew between my head and DH's and made us both duck. :-) Signature"Don't mess with major appliances unless you know what you are doing (or unless your life insurance policy is up-to-date)." - John, RCFL >Birds are absolutely nasty to cats. Merciless. I've noticed it myself when >we were living on the 12th floor in Vancouver. Vino was always out on our [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >the 12th floor balcony of the building right across the parking lot from us >and chirp sassily at Vino. Bastards!!! ;-) Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off, or even flee. Here in NYC, we have a famous family of red-tailed hawks who live on a building overlooking Central Park. The male had to take refuge there because he couldn't actually live *in* the park. Crows and blue jays double teamed him constantly-- he could never sit, never eat, never nest. He found a safe perch on the building, where he can scan the scene, then enter the park on a need-to-hunt basis. It's a pretty sweet setup. ;) It's very disconcerting when your prey is so aggressive. Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ > Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or > any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off, > or even flee. And you probably thought swallows are sweet little birdies. Just ask Frank what *he* thinks. There he was, ambling along the cliff minding his own business on the island last summer, and suddenly a swallow swooped out of nowhere and dove at him. Frank ducked and got away, but the look on his face was priceless. "Mummy! They're picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!" SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki >> Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or >> any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >nowhere and dove at him. Frank ducked and got away, but the look on his face >was priceless. "Mummy! They're picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!" Now swallows and swifts are something else again. Males fight deadly aerial battles with each other. Some friends of mine in Sussex had a swift drop right out of the air in their front garden while they were sitting there early one evening. It had been killed by a rival. Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ > > Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- or > > any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back off, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > nowhere and dove at him. Frank ducked and got away, but the look on his face > was priceless. "Mummy! They're picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!" Most protective bird I've seen is the Red Wing Blackbird. I used to walk past their nest on the way to work and they would dive bomb my head. It was a little disconcerting the first few times, to hear the wind whistling through their feathers as they buzzed past your ear. The Robins can also be pretty aggressive around their nest. I've seen them chase off the Blue Jays a few times. > Most protective bird I've seen is the Red Wing Blackbird. I used to > walk past their nest on the way to work and they would dive bomb my [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The Robins can also be pretty aggressive around their nest. I've seen > them chase off the Blue Jays a few times. The swallows attacked us hoomins, too, if we got too close to their nest. Mde it a bit difficult, since they had built it under our jetty. But Frank was nowhere near the nest when he was attacked out of the blue, poor boy. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki >> Some birds are so pumped up with adrenaline when they see a cat -- >> or any potential predator-- that they can get the predator to back [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >away, but the look on his face was priceless. "Mummy! They're >picking on me! I wasn't doing anything!" I once saw a mockingbird literally back my father's cat into a corner, under a lawn chair on his front porch. The bird was strutting back and forth on the porch, scolding. It was only about 18 inches (half a meter) from the cat, but the cat was so intimidated that it was trying to get away from the bird, not catch the bird. This same bird once pecked me on top of my head as it flew by, because I was too close to its nest. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my >place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >normal mockingbird song. Eventually I correlated Lynxie's presence on >the windowsill with this behavior! >Yep, Lynxie's mere presence, relaxed and sleepy on the windowsill, >lazily watching the birds through a CLOSED WINDOW, causes them to go >into fits of insanity, even though the nest is like 40 feet away! Mockingbirds are *extremely* territorial. I wouldn't want to be a mockingbird, it's too nerve-wracking-- they are on the defensive ALL THE TIME. If they're not fighting each other, they are dive-bombing innocent bypassers. Cats are especially vulnerable. Your cat thought he was a mighty hunter? The mockers have another idea for him. A pair of mockers can reduce the cockiest cat-of-the-walk to a quivering trauma victim. Dogs too. If they have babies, then multiply that by about 100. That, BTW, is the very reason why they are singing *all the time*-- and why if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of them, you will see them on top of antennas, trees, telephone poles, in the highest places they can find, singing their little faces off. They are really good singers, and unlike many other songbirds, they often don't stop as darkness falls, but go right on. They are telling all the other mockers to back off, and stay away. Blue jays-- much the same story, although they don't sing as nicely. Your kitty should be glad she has the glass between her and the crazy kamikaze birds. They have no fear. >http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/bird-on-ceilingfan.jpg >http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/lynxie-watches-bird.jpg >http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~flynnj/kittenpics/crazy-birds/mockingbird-closeup.jpg Great pictures! Aren't animals a stitch? Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ >>So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my >>place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] >My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ I agree with the mockingbirds being aggressive, Here is a series of photos of a cat hunting mocking birds, They drove him out of the tree. http://photos.yahoo.com/hildenp. The poor boy he gets hammered by the birds every time he hunts. (snip_ >I agree with the mockingbirds being aggressive, >Here is a series of photos of a cat hunting mocking birds, >They drove him out of the tree. >http://photos.yahoo.com/hildenp. > >The poor boy he gets hammered by the birds every time he hunts. Yahoo won't show your picture. Try changing the album setting to "public. Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ >(snip_ >>I agree with the mockingbirds being aggressive, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ Sorry about that I thought it was public. It is now, I reset the properties. <hpickering@austin.rr.com> wrote > I agree with the mockingbirds being aggressive, > Here is a series of photos of a cat hunting mocking birds, > They drove him out of the tree. > http://photos.yahoo.com/hildenp. > > The poor boy he gets hammered by the birds every time he hunts. LOL! Poor kitty. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki ><hpickering@austin.rr.com> wrote >> I agree with the mockingbirds being aggressive, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >LOL! Poor kitty. The only thing that he can catch is kibble in a bowl. > So, as of late there has been a pair of mockingbirds hanging out near my > place. However, I was noticing that a lot of times, they start acting [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > compounding the situation. It's quite funny to see how daring the birds > get, coming within 5 to 6 feet of the window if I'm not near it! If Lynxie were outdoors, they'd be attacking him! They're very aggressive birds. We had some nesting in the tall bushes by my porch, and every time my next-door neighbor pulled into his driveway, they'd attack him, or his wife, or his kids. It got so the kids didn't want to get out of the car, when they came home. |
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