Date: 6/9/25 8:39 am From: Mark Mayfield <markherb...> Subject: Re: Red-Shouldered Mimic
Dan and Lloyd,
My father—who was my "Merlin"—and I frequently debated the identity of a “red-shouldered” call when we heard it (this was in Tennessee). We didn’t have Merlin to back us up! I’ll never forget the feeling of realizing how good he was when he first responded to one of my excited exclamations identifying a RS Hawk by simply saying: “Oh, that was a Blue Jay.” Afterwards, I spent some time looking for all such calls until I felt I could confidently identify them. I don’t think I need Merlin to distinguish the two, but I'm not sure I would agree with it if we disagreed anyway!
Mark Mayfield
Manhattan KS
Mark H Mayfield
Division of Biology
Kansas State University
________________________________
From: Birds & Their Habitats in Kansas <KSBIRD-L...> on behalf of Dan Thalmann <editor...>
Sent: Saturday, June 7, 2025 9:11:43 PM
To: <ksbird-l...> <ksbird-l...>
Subject: Re: Red-Shouldered Mimic
This email originated from outside of K-State.
Maybe about 10 days ago I had the Merlin app open and listening to birds in my backyard and a Blue Jay did such a convincing red-tail call that Merlin immediately identified it as a red-tail!
Sent from my iPhone
-Dan Thalmann
Owner/Publisher, Washington County News
Owner, Backroads News& Media
(C) 785-747-6980 - text me
(W) 785-325-2219
> On Jun 6, 2025, at 7:48 AM, Lloyd Davies <ldavies...> wrote:
>
> Wow. We have had red-shouldered hawks nesting in the back woods for
> several years and they call all the time. Just now I had what I thought
> was was one right outside my home office window on the platform feeder: it
> was a blue jay, doing a perfect red-shouldered call. He called and called
> (cats were a bit startled) and then flew into the woods and did a few more
> times. My son came down getting ready for work and said "Hey, just heard a
> red-shouldered outside the window."
>
> Some bird.
>
> Lloyd Davies
> Marion, Kansas
>
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