Video: Jon Young Full Talk at Manzanita Institute on December 4, 2016

[@JonathanDavisKookaburra]

This should really have 'bird language' in the title. it's the best I've found of Jon Young going into detail about bird language so far.

[@bramvanoverbeeke8881]

I agree, the title should be edited to reflect this.

[@timothykuring3016]

I had a set of cassettes by Jon Young many years ago. I was amazed by his observations, but I didn't listen to the whole set when I still had a cassette player. For more than a decade, I searched places like Amazon.com for DVDs, but I couldn't find any. I searched KZbin for "bird language" a few years ago (2012-2014), but found nothing. I'm a sort of accidental, amateur naturalist. I was always reluctant to study nature with books, and I have my own strange reluctance to pursue careers in (or accept money for) things I love. Anyway, I took an entirely different approach to nature. I just sought nature to play, goof off, walk, dream, etc. It is more comfortable than home to me. I had no particular interest in birds, which isn't to say no interest, but it was only one of many interests, from climbing and spelunking, to working on trails, walking in every kind of extreme weather, seeing what people are doing in the wilderness, finding animals, etc. But I found birds announcing my presence in the woods, sometimes looking for my help, and sometimes seeming comforted by the sympathetic fone of my responses. I would make maintenance sounds for the birds, sometimes imitating their whistles, and sometimes achieving a desired effect by imitating the sounds of other birds. Birds would show me where to find food. They saw me daily snacking on blackberries through the season, and they knew me, so I was surprised when they showed up all in one spot along the trail and chattered above me in the trees. When I stopped and listened, I noticed they were flying over the heavy brush uphill from the trail, coming back, chattering at me and doing it again, until I got the message and pushed through the brush uphill, where I found a late season patch of berries, perfectly ripe. And as I discovered it, the birds quieted down and dispersed. I was initially more interested in how birds communicated with other animal species, or at least the way other mammals could understand what the birds were saying. I see all sorts of funny things. The other night a bird was scolding me for stalking a pair of wolves. But I couldn't imagine sitting in one spot like that, although it sure seems fruitful. I prefer my clumsy and haphazard, but much more active approach. I used to joke that birds must think I'm a complete idiot because I imitated them without having any idea what I was saying. I tried all sorts of ways of talking to birds, not by perfectly imitating their calls - I doubted it would fool them. I "jammed" like a guitarist. I might imitate the tone and/or the rhythm, but with different sounds. I interpreted "emotions" in their tones, and I came independently to discover many of the things Jon talks about. I believe it was after the birds accepted me that I was able to hob nob freely with most of the animals in the woods. And some animals would show me their babies, like baby deer and baby raccoons. (I could never show things like that to other people because they always flee from other people.) Birds greet me in the morning, waiting for me to come out of my apartment. (I freak out their predators and scare them away, by the way I talk to them, though a person observing would hardly see me doing anything but a little whistling.) Some birds always greet me at certain places, and they will fly right up to me and chatter at me if they are worried about something I'm doing or someone who is approaching. I don't have to observe the subtleties because, since the birds know I'm a kind of idiot, they are willing to be obvious and insistent. There certainly seems to be no limit of the possibilities of communication and relationship. Even the rattlesnakes got used to me hanging around and sunning with them by their den. I've seen animals and birds do things that I don't think anybody else has seen. Now Jon's talking about the other animals. It was only about picking a spot and such on the tape I heard before. What he says is true. I snuck up on a pack of coyotes once, and they were very indignantly surprised.

[@lou9880]

This was one of the most wonderful youtube videos I think I have ever watched. Totally blown away. I am going to go and finish off the book now. What a great guy.Thank you,

[@spiritwardiaries]

Jon is Awesome⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Hahahahah at the end the yellow jacket guy lol

[@samdumaquis2033]

This is great

[@lukejmorrison]

Can you turn on the video subtitiles transscripts for all your videos please :) 🙏🙏🙏

[@allthewayfrom]

Wonderful, thank you

[@timothykuring3016]

What he says about the robin is true, but I never bothered to learn the names of the species, and I never cared to make any but the most casual distinctions between birds. I would recognize the calls and language without even bothering to see the birds. I knew they were talking about me, but I made no attempt to shut them up by adjusting my behavior. I think it was robins who would go ahead of me down the trail for fairly long distances before returning. I figured they were trying to lead me away from their nests, but I'm content to live with the theory until I stumble upon some other evidence, rather than test it by looking for the nest they are trying to lead me away from. Lately, I've been working on predicting the weather changes by observing bird behavior.

[@roberth.retallickr.n.8069]

Like all Tom Brown devotees, blah blah blah.