Songbirds sing, or vocalize, to communicate. They have songs and calls. Their song is more musical, and, in most species, it is only the male who sings. He will do it to attract a female or to warn other male birds to stay away from his turf. It is basically related to courtship, breeding, and territoriality.
Bird calls, however, are used by males, females and immature birds to communicate every day. Whether they are communicating warning of predators or to signal food, they will usually be a short chirp, trill, or whistle.
Songbirds work together, which is why they are vocal in their communication. But birds of prey of are a completely different animal. By their nature, they are solitary, defending and hunting on their individual territories. You may see vultures together feeding on a single carcass. Harris hawks are an exception, too, as they will hunt cooperatively in packs. But for the most part, a bird of prey is on his own. When he seeks a mate, he will be vocal, but he also asserts his dominance of his territory with aerial displays. These physical displays are also known to attract mates or strengthen the bond with his current mate.
A bird of prey doesn’t have to vocalize their presence. It is felt and known by his mere physicality. He doesn’t have to threaten vocally. He can be perched there, quiet, yet his strength felt without making any sound at all.
When it comes to us humans, I have always observed that confidence is silent and insecurities are loud. Those who feel the need to talk or sing more than the average bear are likely being driven by something underneath the surface that we cannot see.
I also subscribe to the idea that you come from a position of power and strength when you can remain calm and quiet in high conflict situations.
Let’s look one situation and two different responses:
Situation: A husband finds inappropriate messages between his wife and a co-worker by accident on her phone one night before bed.
Response #1: He gets upset (understandably), confronts her and they talk for hours about the relationship, what has transpired, how they are going to remedy it, etc. Then they go to bed emotionally drained.
Response #2: He is upset (understandably) but remains calm. He collects his evidence (prints out the messages), puts them in a safe place and goes to bed. Sleeping on it has allowed himself to compose himself. Before heading off to work, he hands his wife the copies of the messages as she sits at the kitchen table drinking her coffee. He simply tells her, “This is not the kind of behavior one expects from their spouse who says they value their marriage.” Then he goes off to work.
Response #2 can be hard to do when you feel betrayed and hurt. But the second response demonstrates strength. In some ways, this man’s reaction is scarier because he hasn’t lost his shit, he is very composed and has just basically told her that her actions are not actions that a woman who values their marriage takes. He’s logical and rational. And she knows what she did isn’t okay, and he doesn’t need to hear her say it. To him there is no acceptable reason to behave that way, so he isn’t going to talk about it with her. The other things is, we also have no idea what he’s going to do next. And presumptively, they are going to have some distance from each other before they can sit down and address this issue. This in itself can be anxiety provoking.
The bird of prey kind of person doesn’t have to talk big or have long conversations about something. They can simply state their feeling or intention and leave it as that. Their presence and the way they carry themselves speaks volumes, so they don’t have to.
