Mockingbirds and Bluejays

[elte]

Several years ago, my neighbor saw a bird divebombing a neighborhood cat.  He referred to the bird as a bluejay.  I realized that it was actually a mockingbird, however.

Then not too long ago the movie "Mockingjay" came out.  Had the producers also observed that people confuse the two bird species?

[Magical Realist]

We have lots of bluejays up here in Oregon. They have the ability to imitate other bird calls. I heard one on my balcony emit the high-pitched screech of a hawk. Maybe mockingbirds are in the jay species? They certainly don't look the same.

[Image: Mockingbird,_Chalk-browed2_ClaudioTimm.jpg]

[Image: 282480-blue-jay.jpg]

[elte]

They're both passerines in the passeriformes order but their lineage diverges from there, and their families and species are different.  Yet they both are able to do vocal mimicry.  Wikipedia mentions that bluejays particularly imitate hawks.  That is possibly to test to see if hawks are actually nearby, or to scare away other birds.