Akila is an avid bird-watcher. Just like me, except he's limited to the backyard bird feeder
. His favourite bird to mimic is the Red-winged Blackbird, he mimics their contact and alarm calls. Not the male's territorial call though. One of the noises is a bit annoying, but it's still neat how he mimics them. The feeder is about 6' from the window, so he gets a great view. Sometimes the birds even land on the windowsill right in front of him. I'm not sure if it's the same male redwing that keeps coming back to the feeder...but almost every day Akila seems to have a "conversation" with him. Today was no exception. They were both making a high-pitched noise back and forth. I was watching tv, then I hear a "THUD" on the window!
The blackbird flew into the window!!! Akila freaked and flew to the floor. I ran outside and the blackbird was sitting there, dazed, but when I took a step towards him, he flew away. I hope he was ok, poor thing
. It was quite a shock to all of us!! I really can't say if it was Akila's mimicking of the blackbird that caused this, but it sure seemed like it. Lets hope it never happens again!
had a mate that got out and flew away. She was lonesome. Before I got Shadow 
a male Cardinal would come on the back deck right outside the sunroom window. It was summer, the windows were open and they made friends. So much so that Sweetie learned to speak Cardinal. Her noises change when he was there.
