The Bully Bird in the Area

 Critters provide me with endless fascination. There is much to see in Louisiana, and there is no shortage of critters that amaze me. Alligators, turtles, and a variety of birds provide much wonder and amusement. This post deals with birds, in particular, the Northern Mockingbird. It's a very pretty bird, but it is also a bully. I know that many birds are territorial, but these guys go out of their way to harass other critters. 

We have Black Vultures down here. They eat dead things for the most part. Every so often, they perch on power poles or on the supports of a water tower across the street. This drives the Jays crazy. They will fly up to the supports and harass the Vultures until they leave. Same with the ones perched on poles. I watched one flying around one on a pole for a bit, then start bumping the vulture's rear with his feet. You could almost hear the vulture sigh and think, "Really?" This went on for a good 5 minutes or so before the vulture left. Then the jay perched on that pole for a bit before heading over to another pole to harass another vulture that had the temerity to perch there. The vulture kept turning towards the jay every time it landed, so the jay couldn't come at him from behind. Eventually, he tired of it and left. I've yet to see the jays bother the blackbirds. Of course, there are more of them than jays. 

Then one day, I saw a jay taking after a squirrel. He chased it across the ground, trying to bump it with his feet every time the squirrel stopped. I could tell the squirrel was peeved by this. He continued after the squirrel until he ran up a tree. Then the advantage shifted, and he left the little guy alone. He instead flew around my place, landed in the fig tree out back, and had a feast. At least until the blackbirds decided it was lunchtime and flew down en masse to occupy the tree. The jay scooted quickly, screaming all the way. Serves the little prick right!