Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Spring Orioles, dancing jays

Washington, DC, gets orioles this time of year. Saw an Orchard Oriole yesterday, 4/30, at the FDR Memorial, and today, 5/1, a Baltimore Oriole at the WWII Memorial. Good May Day. The Blue-headed Vireos were pretty cool too.

I watched a pair of Blue Jays at very close range, as one (the male?) did a song and dance for the other (female?). He moved from side to side, showing off each flank, in a rhythm of sorts, while he or maybe she, made these quiet honk-whistle sounds and clicking. He also jumped around a lot to give her a good view of all of him, doing this side-to-side dance from different perches. It reminded me of those birds of paradise recently featured on the BBC/Discovery series "Planet Earth". I didn't realize blue jays could dance.

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