Educate Yourself About the Blue Jays and Other Jays
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay has a blue crest, black necklace, pale blue upperside, whitish or gray underside, Broad rounded wings, with bold, white spots on its secondaries and tail.
Its length is 11-12in (28-30cm) Its wingspan is 16in (41cm) Its voice is a harsh slurring “jeeah or jay”, and its calls include a musical “queedle, queedle”. Their eggs are olive or buff marked with dots and spots with 1 clutch in the north (2-3 in the south) consisting of 4-5 or (3-7) eggs. Both parents will incubate for about 16-18 days, and fledging time is around 17-21 days. Both male and female feed their young. Male and female look alike.
The Blue Jay is the only jay that appears in the east, and once used to mostly be part of the wilderness forests, but like many other birds, the Blue Jay has adapted to life in cities and suburbs, as well as your friendly bird feeding garden. The Blue Jay and its other members of the jay family are very intelligent and inquisitive birds.
The Blue Jay consume acorns, hickory, and beech nuts like many other birds but is the only bird that will take its nuts several hundred yards from its parent tree and either eat it or hide it. Therefore trees like oak and other nut-bearing trees relay completely on the jay for their long-distance distribution of their seeds.
Most of the jays are non-migratory birds, but if there is a shortage on nuts one year they will be forced to migrate to other parts of the state. Jays do not only eat nuts, they will readily feast on insects like flies, wasps, spiders, and bugs, and enjoys fruit and berries as well. Unfortunately these birds will occasionally steal eggs from other nests and even consume on or two nestlings of other small birds if the opportunity comes its way.
Both the male and female will participate in the nest building, and will usually break of sticks and then weave their nest, using materials like bark, moss, lichens, and even paper. They both decide on where to build their nests which will be in either a low tree, dense shrub, or vine, about 10-15ft (3-4.5m) above the ground. As you know, jays are often very loud, noisy, and kind of boisterous in their behavior, but when the nesting season is around the corner they will become quite silent. Only when any kind of unwanted guest gets to be to close to their nest, they will become noisy, and try to scare it away.
The Pacific Cost population is much brighter and bolder than the interior population, and they will become so tame, that when offered peanuts in a shell from your hand, they will boldly snatch them from you. You will notice, when they visit your bird feeders that many family members will feed at the same time, usually with another bird stationed on top of a large tree, sending out warning signals to alert of any in coming danger.
If you like to attract different kinds of jays, like Blue Jay, Stellar’s Jay, and Gray Jay, plant Pinyon Pine, pecan, walnut trees, and Gambel’s Oak, because these favorites, will provide a steady source of acorns, pine seeds, and nuts. Jays feast on fruit and berries as well, like blueberries, grapes, cherries and serviceberries. Also plant dense brush, for nesting opportunities, and put out sunflower seeds and peanuts in a shell for later consumption.
