Increased Bird Activity Prior To/during Bf Activity

[Cotter]

Hi Folks:

A couple members in another thread mentioned they experienced an increase in bird activity prior to and during BF activities (sightings/calls/etc).

 

I wanted to start a thread to discuss this a bit more in depth.

 

A question I have is do you feel that the bird activity - specifically the noises originated from birds or perhaps from other BF's mimicing?
 

Thanks all.

[GuyInIndiana]

My ears perked up on that too. We've noticed (with some variation) that there's often certain bird sounds that increase in the woods to our south before and during activity. One year particularly, there was a certain "tweet" that would occur, and within maybe 30 seconds we'd get a vocalization.

 

This "bird activity" also became very pronounced during a prolonged period of activity one morning in 2012. Not only birds in the woods, but owl(s), whooperwhills and random coyote calls occured during all that.

 

So much for the "the woods falls silent when they are around" thing. Sometimes. Not always.

 

This was my post from the Finding Bigfoot thread where this topic came up.

 

Based on general conditions, I don't have a reason to suspect that the bird sounds are imitations. I actually found Moneymaker's suggestion that it "could be" a BF's getting into trees or similar notions that is stirring birds up, plausible. I hadn't really considered that. There could be some merit to that line of thinking.

[bipedalist]

I believe BF imitated an assemblage of bird calls I used and mimicked them back to me....  I am sharing the file with a wildlife ecologist/biologist at this time who has a specialty in ornithology. 

 

I also believe crows, ravens, possibly blue jays and even pileated woodpeckers are alarmed occasionally when BF is around.  This might be the same for chickadees, tufted titmice, etc. 

 

I do not believe the response is automatic or guaranteed but is intermittent in nature.  

 

As for BF or MM swinging from trees, I will leave that for another thread, I think it more likely raccoons disturb birds in trees than MM or BF. 

Edited December 30, 2014 by bipedalist

[Cotter]

Very cool Biped!  You'll have to share with us what yer bird pal thinks of the recording.

And...that didn't take long!   1 for mimicing, 1 for real.

LOL! 

 

:-)

[daveedoe]

I have always thought ravens, crows, jays might follow a Bigfoot. I know trackers will listen for crows and ravens when looking for people in the wild. The birds follow the humans to scavenge any leftovers they may leave. Whenever I am out I listen for the ravens, crows and jays in the distance. Always listening and wondering?

[mesabe]

Predator hunters also note that every coyote/bobcat has its crow/raven, but not every crow /raven has its coyote/bobcat.

 

May even apply to bears/wolves and bigfoots. A symbiotic relationship, where the scavengers swoop down for any leftovers, as soon as the hunter has had his fill. Often noisily calling in the rest of the flock. Saftey in numbers I guess.

 

I've also noticed them anouncing my presence, especially when I'm trying to be stealthy.

[Rockape]

The time I was hunting and thought someone was throwing rocks at me, the thing I remember, other than the rocks, is how many birds there were. I distinctly remember there being a lot of birds because the only explanation I could think of for where the rocks were coming from was that the birds were dropping them.

[Trogluddite]

I've seen common crows running off a hawk and its also not uncommon to see birds sounding an alarm when a predator is around (and possibly even dive-bombing the predator), right?

 

Any chance that the bird noise increases because birds are warning each other to maintain a higher altitude to avoid being swatted out of the air and swallowed whole? 

[Carnivore]

Birds will often get noisy/let out alarm calls even when a person is around. I've had it happen numerous times when walking in the woods. Although, this observation of increased bird activity is interesting as it contrasts with other reports of the surrounding area going completely quiet. 

[ShadowBorn]

Birds will often get noisy/let out alarm calls even when a person is around. I've had it happen numerous times when walking in the woods. Although, this observation of increased bird activity is interesting as it contrasts with other reports of the surrounding area going completely quiet. 

Blue Jays will alarm to my presence when I am in their area. Crows/Ravens will alarm as they fly over where I am hunting at times as well. If I see a hawk that is flying above I usually see deer during my hunt for some reason,which is cool.  SeeingTurkey Vultures will also bring me luck as well. But when the creatures are around it is silent,dead silent no question about that.

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

I do not remember anything about birds or bugs during my encounter. It was daytime though. I have read numerous reports that claim all activity, such as birds and bugs, ceases prior to a sighting. That has always seemed strange to me, but it does appear that this happens. I do wonder if such activity actually stops, or if the witness perceives that it has stopped. Perhaps a rush of adrenaline or something. I do know that strange feeling when the hairs on your neck stand up, and I've experienced it a few times right before something strange happened. Those are the only times I've ever felt it, and I would bet that most people have never even experienced this. The feeling is indescribable, and because you don't know what is going on, it is almost like your subconscious knows something your conscious mind does not.

 

I remember a long time ago I posted on the topic of bugs and how they supposedly cease activity when a sasquatch is present, and I also remember doing a little research on the behavior of things like crickets. If I remember correctly they will cease all noise under certain conditions, but I am not certain. Birds on the other hand I have no clue about. At night birds wouldn't be vocalizing anyway. They could however stop singing or calling when someone gets near, or when a bigfoot gets near. I do not think this would be unusual. They are smart animals.

 

Of course this thread is about increased bird activity, and I have never really heard such a claim on a large scale in association with bigfoot. I see the most bird activity after it has rained. For instance, it just rained for days here and there are birds everywhere. I imagine that the worms come to the surface when it rains, so the birds are trying to get them. Perhaps, and I'm going out on a limb here, sasquatch activity increases after a rain, as bird activity does, giving the misconception that bird activity is related to sasquatch activity. I do not see any reason that birds would increase their activity in response to sasquatch- and I see no reason that sasquatch would increase their activity in response to birds. It must be one or the other if there is a correlation.

[GuyInIndiana]

Insects will change their behaviors more based on temps and barometric reason than others. We've had nights where recording was extemely difficult due to their (insects and crickets) overwhelming activity. Then we've had nights where they were active until the weather changed overnight. In either case, we've had nights with no observable  BF activity, and nights with much activity with different insect noises.

 

As for people reporting that the woods went silent during an encounter, it's a medically established phenomenon that sudden bursts of adrenaline in a person's system can dampen the auditory system, and can create brief periods confusion and disorientation. There's plenty out on the net that talks about and goes into details about this.

 

As for drawing a conclusion that ...

I do not see any reason that birds would increase their activity in response to sasquatch- and I see no reason that sasquatch would increase their activity in response to birds. It must be one or the other if there is a correlation.

 

 

Once again, people offer 2 choices of "how something must be" trying to give and "either / or" option, but let's get realistic: there could be a dozen reasons why something is or isn't a certain way and we just don't know what they are. Offering 2 choices and saying it's gotta be one or the other is overly simplistic.

Edited January 2, 2015 by GuyInIndiana

[Guest lightheart]

Good post Guy in Indiana.

Here the no-see-ums will start biting like crazy if it is going to rain. I have noticed that even if the weather forecast doesn't include rain when their activity picks up it rains within a few hours.

I also agree with your comments about either/or conclussions. In any given situation there are a variety of other possibilities that may not be apparent. Plussed

Edited January 2, 2015 by lightheart

[Trogluddite]

....

As for people reporting that the woods went silent during an encounter, it's a medically established phenomenon that sudden bursts of adrenaline in a person's system can dampen the auditory system, and can create brief periods confusion and disorientation.....

 

It's also an established phenomenon that when one is under the stress of a perceived life-or-death situation, all their senses get focused on the very immediate threat at hand and they simply cannot or do not observe unimportant events occurring right beside them.  This also could cause the perception that "the woods went silent."  

 

I am not sure if we are talking about the same thing - I don't believe that the tunnel vision/hearing I'm referring to is caused by adrenaline. I understood that it happens because the brain is automatically kicking into full survival mode. The name for it, which I heard on NPR a long time ago, is associated w/cops because that's the population that the first study of the effect was done on - perhaphs some of are LEOs know the name.

 

Just to give an idea of how powerful this can be, I was an RTO using a PRC-77 for a medical team in Beaver Stadium way back in the days before modern communications.  We were advised of a heart attack in progress and I was relaying medical information between the team and a doctor in a booth somewhere.  There were 85,000 rabid football fans and I never heard either the National Anthem nor the usual huge roar when the Penn State players took the field.  We just carried on a conversation in a "normal" tone of voice for about 10 minutes before everything was taken care of and my hearing re-set to hearing all the sounds of a major college football game.  I am sure that others have had similar experiences that demonstrate the extent of this phenomenon.  

[Cotter]

Many times while deer hunting, people neither hear the gun go off or feel the kick when they harvest an animal.