I was set up on the ground tonight, hoping some does would come down a heavily used trail to an alfalfa field.  There are several trailed streaming off the hill to the field, I just chose the one where we've seen them coming out onto the field recently.   Anyway, I'm sitting there and it's prime time and this little bird... Like a sparrow of some kind (I'm not much of a bird identifier), flutters I to the small tree just a few feet above me and it nervously looks down at me and it starts skwaking... or cawing or screeching ... I don't know what word to use.  But I swear it sounded like an alarm to all other wildlife that danger was present!  And apparently the deer were listening because they took trails both in from of me and behind me... None came down my trail.   It's the first time I've ever noticed a bird's vocalization and connected it to my presence and really wondered if the dang thing blew my cover.  Your thoughts?

An article in Montana Outdoors mag this past year about a research project they conducted on such a theory.  They found an entire connection of bird vocalizations that traveled for miles after a predator (i.e. human) intervention.  The one thing they could not fully determine was the impact on all other animals.  It was clear though that birds gave warnings that could be tracked as it spread to other birds through the surrounding areas.

I have learned to immitate some local bird "all clear" calls just to keep things cool while I'm sitting. I don't know if it makes any difference. I know one thing, I sure don't want to piss of any Blue Jays.

Absolutely ! It's happened to me more than once while actually watching the deer react, nothing you can do but smile. It seems to happen more when I'm wearing a 3D of some type rather than just being in regular camo or just neutral wool colored clothes.

I have issues with larger birds myself. Had a tom turkey bust me while watching a good 8 working his way to me. Unfortunately it wasn't turkey season!

QuoteOriginally posted by Jerry Jeffer:
I know one thing, I sure don't want to piss of any Blue Jays.

Jerry, I just googled Blue Jay and I'm pretty sure that's what my bird was!

BLUE JAYS. They will start alarming at pretty much anything. They will alert you of coyotes, bobcats, hawks but I stand up and grab my bow when they make a certain noise because its usually a deer. They really get rowdy at buck deer. Im not sure why. Squirrels also get to barking (the light bark / squeal call) when deer are acting abnormally. I have found several deer that I have shot based on where I heard squirrels barking when they ran off.

Oh yeah. . . catbirds are bad for it too, and may have been what you had there.  Critters have their own "danger" cry and it translates to many (critter) languages.
CHuckC

QuoteOriginally posted by Slimpikins:
BLUE JAYS. They will start alarming at pretty much anything. They will alert you of coyotes, bobcats, hawks but I stand up and grab my bow when they make a certain noise because its usually a deer. They really get rowdy at buck deer. Im not sure why. Squirrels also get to barking (the light bark / squeal call) when deer are acting abnormally. I have found several deer that I have shot based on where I heard squirrels barking when they ran off.

If the jays see you there screeching to let every animal in the forest know  you are there.  Like slimpkins said pay attention to them if it's not you its something else deer,wolf coyote, they are,the knarks of the forest and once you get one going if there others around they all join in (very annoying.)  Squirrels too have you ever been in your stand and the first time and the local squirrel spots you in one of his trees  it'll climb up close enough to check you out then sit and chide at you for like 20 mins.
Also when the squirrels a very active deer tend to be too. More than once I've been sitting in an orchestra of squirrel activity and have had deer come in and caught me off guard because I thought they were squirrels.

Blue Jays, woodpeckers, and some sort of little tweet birds I can't identify are a royal pain where I hunt. And don't forget the squirrels! They will raise a fuss at the slightest movement. I have seen deer bolt when these alarm cries go up.

However, these alarms do sometimes work in the hunter's favor, as Slimpikins stated. I have heard alarms in the distance and then had deer approach from that direction. Part of woodsmanship is learning to recognize and use these clues to our benefit.

Back in the late 40's early 50's, my grandfather swears that a blue jay cost him a really nice buck in the Ithaca, NY area.  To his dying day in 1969, he hated blue jays and kept a pellet rifle handy to "remove" them when he saw them.

If you learn to listen to and identify other animals calls, they will let you know when something is amiss-deer, fox, hawk, owl, person, etc.

A number of years ago, a guy kept a pack of beagles in a kennel on the property next to where I hunt.  When his dogs got to carrying on, it usually meant that there were deer moving in my direction.  Usually, when the dogs are restrained, deer move freely around them (they feel safe).  The dogs will bark and carry on when they see or smell the deer.  I have watched deer at my house graze/browse less than 100 feet from my dogs when I let them out in my fenced yard.  The deer keep an eye on the dogs but they don't run off.

And beagles are an alarm nobody could ignore   :D

Y'all have me wishing it was October in the hardwoods. I love Blue Jays!

I have definitely seen whitetails go on high alert in response to crows reacting to my presence.

My grandfather would always say: "You never see a bluejay on Wednesday". I have spent years trying to disprove his theory.

James

My now deceased uncle claimed in one of his favorite bow hunting spots you could just about follow the deer as they made their way across a lowland area towards an alfalfa field, by listening to the blue jays.

I have not experienced it, but think fondly about Uncle Gene whenever I am hunting and hear some jays.

Pine squirrels are famous for raising a racket when they see a human. I believe that they have a simbiotic relationship with other animals (elk, deer) that tell the hooved critters that there is a predator nearby.

I hate BLUE JAYS!!!!!

I've been busted many times by some little "Finch" type bird before and they will squawk for an hour or so.  Real annoying and honestly, I don't recall ever seeing a deer after they squawk.

Blue Jays, crows, and Red squirrels....They are the natural alarms around this part of the world. Been busted more than once buy these culprits.