The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend!

If you have watched birds for any amount of time you have probably heard one or more birds sound an alarm call. My “nerd” question was can birds talk to each other?  Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case completely.  Birds do seem to recognize the alarm calls or attack calls from other birds​ but not the intricacies of all the various bird languages.  Maybe a good example is my own deficiencies in languages other than my own.  I have a very rudimentary understanding of Spanish and only a slightly more advance grasp of Italian (think pre-school to K5).  So on trips to Italy and Mexico respectively (usually by the end of the trip) I can clumsily get directions, find out the price of something, locate the bathroom, remark on the weather, time or day etc.; however, if a native speaker gets the impression I can speak the language and begins to attempt to chat with me rapidly, I am in the dark completely.  Similarly, birds of different families DO seem to recognize the alarm call and maybe a couple of other calls (The female birds show distress if any of the baby birds call even a baby bird that is not their own) but not the complete vocal range of various other birds’ songs.   In other words, A Dove does not recognize nor is there a need to recognize the mating call of the Blue Jay, but it does recognize a Blue Jay’s alarm call.

 So, if they understand the alarm call will they also come to help?  Yes, we know that birds of the same family will come to ​help each other.  This is called mobbing.  Mobbing is when birds will vocally (often) and physically band or mob up together and “attack” fly at a predator in order to drive him or her off and away from the nests/territory.  This behavior may also serve to teach the younger birds to learn WHO are the actual predators.  In our backyard, at the beginning of the nesting season, a mated pair of crows moved in across the street.  Crows are not my favorite and I was initially not pleased (God had to teach me to overcome my anti-crow feelings stemming from my full-blooded Cherokee great grandma), but I was trying to stay open minded.  Soon there were no longer two crows but three, one considerably smaller than the other two.

 One evening while Abby and I were watching a movie inside, an adult-Shinned Hawk dropped smack dab into the tree right outside my window ie right in front of the feeders.  We took the pictures but since Sharpies are known for feeding mainly on small birds, we were not pleased. A few days later, we heard a repeated crescendo of squawking outside the same window and we “flew” over to see what was wrong.  A crow was flying toward the house and squawking loudly at the same time.  The feeder birds scattered and a split-second later the Sharpie swooped over the top of the house and on a collision course with the crow.  The crow maintained her course and when they were going to collide the hawk veered off under the crow (side “nerd” question, why is that called playing chicken?  Shouldn’t it be called playing crow?)  Next, the crow made a mid-air U-turn (quite impressive maneuver) and began following the hawk.  At the same time another crow was rapidly approaching on an intersecting path toward the hawk.  The hawk took evasive flying measures to avoid the intersecting crow and continued a rapid course away from the house. We were relieved.  The one crow set off the alarm and the other crow responded.  So, the crows helped each other, and the rest of the feeder birds were helped in kind.

 Some days later, during a normally very quiet part of a stifling hot afternoon, there was a great cacophony of multiple bird voices from outside.  Grabbing the closest recording device (her iPhone) my daughter ran outside and recorded a video.  In this video below you can hear Crows, Starlings, Blue Jays and Grackles and at least one other type of bird sounding the alarm. Of the ones we remember only the Jays and Crows share the same family.  At twelve seconds, a flash is seen, after which a bird lands on the chimney of the house across the road and Abby zooms in closer.  The bird is again the Sharpie.  She is there as well as much tinier birds following it and subsequently dive-bombing it. So, mobbing is not exclusive to birds of the same family but in some instances whether vocally or physically they mob to drive off a shared predator.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

God enabled these magnificent creatures to know and understand a lesson that humankind can’t always seem to grasp.  When we share a common goal, we should not waste time and energy focusing on each other’s differences. How odd would it have been for the different birds to start arguing among each other?  That behavior would have surely provided an opportunity where, while they were distracted, their enemy could attack.   If only we would focus on how we are alike or at the very least focus on accomplishing whatever shared goal has brought us together.   After all, at the end of the day a Blue Jay is still a Blue Jay and a Starling is still a Starling; but, the community as a whole is stronger and safer. 

 The video is best listened to until about the 12 second mark, at which point where you can catch a glimpse of it overhead and subsequently on the neighbor's roof.

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