Some of my foster kittens went outside for some R & R**, but as soon as they were out there, a big black bird of some sort perched on a tree branch above and started Yelling At Them.
I have not heard these birds yell otherwise.
What does that mean?
**Kittens didn’t understand the chillax meaning of R & R. Rather, they were rowdy and loved exploring the bushes.
Well, depending on how big they are you may want to stay real near those kittens! It would not be strange for a large bird to pick off a kitten for lunch 
Jays, crows, etc., will harass cats or other small predators. Back in the day I had real mean and effective little hunter, we called him a Florida Swamp Cat, he used to anger flocks of birds at a time. Poor thing always had at least 2-3 on his tail daily screaming at him :lol:
They are angry the cats are near their nests and young etc. if it is a Raven I would for sure be putting my kittens in the house, they have been known to take out eyes of calves and lambs.
We’ve had hawks swoop in and steal kittens. Thankfully yours are only being yelled at.
Yes, I was worried that these were carnivorous birds.
But then I thought I was paranoid. And I don’t know what they were. I’m in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Crows? Ravens? I think there was a medium-sized Blue Jay who showed up, too. It seemed that the black bird came into yell and then the jay showed up next.
If those birds have nests, I don’t know where they are.
Yep, they were yelling at the predators. This time of year they might be defending their fledglings which are out of the nest but not flying yet and they’re hopping around - they’re hard to find. I have both a robin nest and a cardinal nest in my yard and the little ones are finally off on their own. Once the babies left the nest there was much “yelling” by the parent birds whenever we went in the yard until the little ones were utterly on their own.
Agree that if the kittens are tiny and you’re talking about ravens, be careful.
Sure, around here you can tell where the neighborhood cats are by just listening to the mockingbirds and catbirds. 
(one morning i heard a couple chickadees and finches just losing their minds outside the front door; i stuck my head out to see wtf was going on-- and saw the resident cooper’s hawk sitting in my neighbor’s tree. saw the local barred owl that way, too: a cardinal was going nuts in a bull pine and i stopped to see if i could find what he was freaking out over, and saw the owl. Very cool. )
^the language of birds: fooood!, predator(that can be scared away), sun is rising, I am here!
Here in the summer we once had a hawk. Much like before a really bad storm it was completely silent, quite remarkable.
The birds harrassed the cat who hunted but did much less “scolding” on the two who didnt hunt.
Yup, emergency avian alert system.
Many different types of birds will let out warning calls repeatedly when a predator is spotted.
Some just do a few warning calls, others will stay nearby giving out Get Out! calls too.
The birds do it to alert everything in the area that there’s a predator nearby. Wildlife predators know that when they hear that alert system, time to stop stalking because everything else now knows they’re there. Most of the time they just leave.
The birds do it to warn everything, not just other birds. That way the predator will leave.
They do it more often when they have nests nearby, but they’ll do it year round too. Some wildlife mammals will purposely have/keep their young near some birds’ nesting sites just to benefit from the warning system since birds have a much better surrounding view. There’s a lot of pretty cool symbiotic relationships in nature.
Crows and ravens will also sometimes purposely taunt cats for fun, they’re wicked smart birds. The crows that nest on the cell tower near my house used to pick up rocks from my driveway and drop them on the two semi-feral cats that hung out on my deck. And some chipping sparrows had a neat system of one landing near the long haired cat and staying in it’s site while the other one flew in behind it and plucked hair right off the cat for it’s nest!
[QUOTE=mvp;7625224]
Yes, I was worried that these were carnivorous birds.
But then I thought I was paranoid. And I don’t know what they were. I’m in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Crows? Ravens? I think there was a medium-sized Blue Jay who showed up, too. It seemed that the black bird came into yell and then the jay showed up next.
If those birds have nests, I don’t know where they are.[/QUOTE]
Very common for crows, ravens, and blue jays to “mob” predators, usually hawks and owls. But one day I heard them yelling, and I was looking for the hawk, and I realized they were yelling at something on the ground, which turned out to be a bobcat! So I guess they don’t like cats much!
[QUOTE=MistyBlue;7625533]
Yup, emergency avian alert system.
Many different types of birds will let out warning calls repeatedly when a predator is spotted.
Some just do a few warning calls, others will stay nearby giving out Get Out! calls too.
The birds do it to alert everything in the area that there’s a predator nearby. Wildlife predators know that when they hear that alert system, time to stop stalking because everything else now knows they’re there. Most of the time they just leave.
The birds do it to warn everything, not just other birds. That way the predator will leave.
They do it more often when they have nests nearby, but they’ll do it year round too. Some wildlife mammals will purposely have/keep their young near some birds’ nesting sites just to benefit from the warning system since birds have a much better surrounding view. There’s a lot of pretty cool symbiotic relationships in nature.
Crows and ravens will also sometimes purposely taunt cats for fun, they’re wicked smart birds. The crows that nest on the cell tower near my house used to pick up rocks from my driveway and drop them on the two semi-feral cats that hung out on my deck. And some chipping sparrows had a neat system of one landing near the long haired cat and staying in it’s site while the other one flew in behind it and plucked hair right off the cat for it’s nest![/QUOTE]
Love the story about the cat. Those are some brave sparrows!
Birds crack me up, I couldn’t believe this one was repeatedly sneaking up on Spare and grabbing the loose tufts of hair in it’s beak and flying off. It did that for about an hour, it would land behind the cat and then hop forward little by little and gently grab some hair and fly off. After a few trips it would hop right up on the cat and grab hair!
[QUOTE=[/QUOTE]
So that’s what long hair (slacker) cats are made for. I never knew their purpose before this informative thread.
That is a great photo MB!
That’s a terrific picture, MistyBlue!
Minor update:
I got yelled at, too, yesterday. The big black bird is an equal opportunity yeller. Maybe I have been in the wrong and lectured by this bird of a long time. But I didn’t notice until the kittens (who blended in well to their surroundings) seemed to maybe be some kind of bird snack. Maybe they were those good scallops-wrapped-in-bacon things you make in your toaster oven.
[QUOTE=mvp;7628110]
Minor update:
I got yelled at, too, yesterday. The big black bird is an equal opportunity yeller. Maybe I have been in the wrong and lectured by this bird of a long time. But I didn’t notice until the kittens (who blended in well to their surroundings) seemed to maybe be some kind of bird snack. Maybe they were those good scallops-wrapped-in-bacon things you make in your toaster oven.[/QUOTE]
I live in what really should be considered some sort of bird sanctuary, I swear. More birds than I have ever seen, of all different sizes, colors, and sounds. We even have owls and a pair of ringnecked doves (who are currently nesting in my huge douglas fir tree). I had a pair of robins nest right next to my front door (on top of a wreath, which subsequently fell down and dumped the eggs) and now have a pair of barn swallows nesting just under the eave of my porch overhang. We argued over the nest location for about a week, with me knocking down the half-built nest each day until I finally gave up. There are now eggs and we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the little squawkers. :lol:
I, too, have been yelled at by the black birds. They even yell at my horse, squawking away at him hoping he will leave his grain bucket for them to pillage. I have also had two remove two unfortunate specimens (these were actually starlings, but they are also “black”) from my woodstove, after they somehow ended up coming down the chimney. Not particularly fun. They mostly eat bugs and seeds but from what I have read, can also go after nestlings of some smaller birds and little frogs.
I get a kick out of the blue jays (another wicked smart bird). They’ll fly to the bird feeders screaming their alarm call. All of the other birds beat it, to get away from whatever predator is around. Then, the jays land and proceed to eat all the food.
The other day there was a huge hawk sitting next to the sidewalk at work. Just sitting there and staring at us going to work. The mockingbirds were shrieking, and dive bombing him. Apparently, he was sitting on a kill, and I guess it was a fledgling mockingbird. It’s the only time I’ve been that close to a hawk, and it was amazing. After a while he gave up on his kill, and went to the top of a street light pole, with the other mockingbirds still harassing him, but he just ignored them.
[QUOTE=mvp;7628110]
Minor update:
I got yelled at, too, yesterday. The big black bird is an equal opportunity yeller. Maybe I have been in the wrong and lectured by this bird of a long time. But I didn’t notice until the kittens (who blended in well to their surroundings) seemed to maybe be some kind of bird snack. Maybe they were those good scallops-wrapped-in-bacon things you make in your toaster oven.[/QUOTE]
This is the time of year when babies are fledging. The fledgling black birds (and ravens) usually start on the ground as I learned from Wild Life Rescue when I saw one hopping around with the parents squawking at it.
So the parents will tell the young one to hide, but it also seems like they are encouraging it to fly.
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