Blue jays are natural forest dwellers, and you can hear them whenever you walk in the woods. They are also highly adaptable and intelligent birds. They are a familiar and noisy presence round local bird feeders.
Their call is well known. You can't miss it Jay Jay Jay...and various and sundry other squwarks that give the message "over here there is food"
Blue jays are sometimes known to eat eggs or nestlings but they are largely vegetarian birds. Most of their diet is composed of acorns, nuts, and seeds—though they also eat small creatures such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles. Blue jays sometimes store acorns in the ground and may fail to retrieve them, thus aiding the spread of forests. (National Geographic) I think that they may have been responcible for my Robins loosing their eggs.
They are fairly social and are typically found in pairs or in family groups or small flocks. Some individual birds may migrate one year and not the next. It is unclear what factors determine whether each blue jay or family decides to migrate. I think ours seem to stick around.
We had a Blue Jay nest last year but the babies were killed. I don't know if it was a cat, our cat, raccoon or whatever. Anyway, it was not a good spot but I tried to protect it. The babies were just about ready to go, maybe they did and were caught when they jumped the nest. Anyway, it was very sad.
I put out some bread and some cheese, they loved that today. One guy tried to fly with a hunk of cheese LOL
They love bread. I get squirrels all the time and they will take all the bread they can carry away. So its an ongoing thing. I seem to have to put out more every day. They appreciate the seeds, especially sunflowers.
They will eat the berries if they have to, or if the Robins leave any. We do have a few left.
The Blue Jays make for pretty pictures at any rate and I love the noisy birds. The small birds are my favourites but I love the beauty of those beautiful blue creatures. Incredibly beautiful.
I am sharing this with Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House
3 comments:
Janice, your photos are stunning!
We too have blue Jays, nearly 15 to 20 live year round here in our yard, of course we feed them which keeps them staying here. They are beautiful birds and yes, noisy.
We have 8 Merriam wild Turkeys that come every morning for the chicken scratch we provide for them. They are a joy and delight to my soul! I have become a "bird watcher" with them, and it has been quite interesting watching their ways. We have two Toms and six ladies. I call them my"little Meriams" they will come right up to me when I feed them.
I have been away from blogging but plan to start posting again next week.
Have a beautiful week end.
Joy! Debbie
I love the blue jays too, and you got some beautiful shots of them! I don't see them here in my yard very much, but I do see them in the neighbourhood. I've often seen huge groups of them migrating in September too, so maybe they move a little further out of our immediate area, who knows. My parents had jays at their place all year round (only an hour away from me). We have had quite a few cats visiting my yard lately and there have been sad tell-tale signs of birds that weren't quick enough for the cats. I send the dog out if I see the cats (he only chases, he'd never catch them), I really hate to see the cats getting my feathered friends :( Enjoy your weekend! Wendy
Great post Janice! I love Blue Jays ;o) I am so happy they came back this year where I live. We haven't had them in awhile! Big Hugs ;o)
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