With their bright blue feathers and their loud, piercing call, blue jays are among our most easily identifiable birds. If you keep bird feeders in your yard, you may have noticed that blue jays are kind of like the bully on the playground. They can be loud and aggressive, threatening smaller birds. Its for this reason that blue jays are not a favorite among many avid birders.
Blue jays live everywhere in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and in parts of southern Canada, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Their migration patterns are not yet well understood by researchers. They are migratory, but not all birds migrate. They are present in most of their range throughout the year, although some blue jays do migrate south for winter.
Blue jays eat insects, nuts, seeds and grains. If youd like to attract them to your yard, try putting out peanuts, suet or sunflower seed, Cornell Lab advises. They prefer tray and hopper-style bird feeders to hanging feeders.
If you’re not convinced, watch this YouTube videoanonymous March 6, 2024, 3:09 a.m.which was captured by someone who was luckier than I was. m. I really hate blue jays. anonymous March 6, 2024, 3:08 a. m. Kill the bastard with a sling shot. anonymous Oct. 19, 2023, 6:15 a. m. Still better than Starlings. Those flying rats deserve to be cleansed. anonymous Sept. 13, 2023, 8:34 a. m. Today I saw a blue jay eat a snake. anonymous April 8, 2023, 4:19 p. m. It doesnt surprise me! Gratis Spil Dec. 20, 2022, 7:26 a. m. What a great way to begin the day! Since I was unfamiliar with this, I decided to learn more. anonymous July 19, 2022, 4:36 a. m. When I saw this “murder” this morning while enjoying my coffee in peace on my front porch, I was absolutely shocked. With someone in his mouth, this blue jay was driving the other birds crazy. I threw a magazine to break up the scene because I had no idea what was happening, but it didn’t get close to them. He did take off, but he returned and continued to peck at it for a considerable amount of time. When he eventually took off, he left a little person decapitated behind. Before reading this article, I thought I had a monster in my yard. It helped ease my feelings a little. Now that everyone is back to normal in the yard I just couldnt believe it I never witnessed this before. If I had discovered it later, I would have thought it was a neighborhood cat. anonymous July 1, 2022, 6:24 a. m. Last week, we discovered a few dead chipmunks in our yards. We believe Blue Jays are responsible. Maybe not eaten, but from a struggle for ownership of the bird feeders Had no idea this would happen. anonymous June 13, 2022, 7:24 p. m. Yeah, I just found out today. I was astounded to see a Blue Jay perched atop a finch and pecking at it with extreme aggression. I attempted to frighten the Blue Jay away because it seemed alive and had blood all over it, but it simply took the finch with it. I initially believed that the blue jay might have had a disease, but I later learned that they are healthy and contribute to the control of insect and bird populations. In addition, hawks, owls, falcons, and other land animals prey on blue jays. anonymous in response to.
I didnt know either, until today. I was sitting in the Cascade Dining Hall enjoying my breakfast looking out the window, when I saw a Blue Jay eating something in a tree. As I looked closer, I realized that it was another bird! I rushed outside to try to get a video. Just as I started to film, the bird saw me and flew away with the carcass, dropping the decapitated head at my feet. You can view the pretty graphic picture here.
What a way to start the morning! Since I had never even heard of this before, I decided to do some research. The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is actually a member of the Crow (Corvidae) family. All crows eat meat, some more than others. Although Blue Jays eat about 3 times as much plant matter as it does meat, a large part of their diet is made up of other animals such as mice, fish, bats and other small birds. All members of the crow family are know for their intelligence, thats why its so hard for Fluffy to kill them. You can read more about the Corvidae family on this fascinating website: http://science.jrank.org/pages/1886/Crows-Jays.html
They aren’t really blue
It might surprise you to learn that blue jays aren’t truly blue. The pigment in their feathers is melanin, which is brown. According to Cornell Lab, we see them as blue because of a scientific principle known as light scattering.
Light scattering is similar to how a prism works. Blue jays wings contain small pockets made of air and keratin. When light hits these pockets, all colors of the wavelength are absorbed except blue. Instead, the blue wavelength is refracted, making it visible to us, according to the Cornell Lab.
Other blue songbirds are also subject to the same principle that causes us to perceive blue jays as blue. That implies that bluebirds and indigo buntings are not actually blue; we merely perceive them as such. Its just these blue-hued birds playing tricks on you, though. You can be confident that goldfinches are indeed golden and that cardinal feathers are red. Their colors come from pigments called carotenoids.
They don’t get much love
Blue jays don’t receive nearly as much respect as some of our other well-known birds, many of which are designated as state birds. Perhaps this is because of their reputation as bullies. Take the northern cardinal. Its the state bird of seven states, including Illinois. Additionally, three states have robins as their official bird, while five states have northern mockingbirds. Conversely, the state bird of exactly zero states is the blue jay.
Thats not to say blue jays get no respect. The Major League Baseball team in Toronto is named for the well-known blue-hued birds. Toronto was awarded an expansion MLB team in 1976, and the team has been called the Blue Jays since its inception. To name the team, the organization held a public contest that garnered more than 30,000 submissions of more than 4,000 name suggestions, according to Major League Baseball. One of the most common names submitted through the contest was the Blues, but because that was similar to the name for the mascot of the University of Toronto, a panel of judges selected the name the Blue Jays instead.
Additionally, our northern neighbors have expressed their admiration for the blue jay. The blue jay is the official bird of Prince Edward Island, a province in Canada. A few American universities, such as Creighton University, Elizabethtown College, and Johns Hopkins University, have made the blue jay their mascot.
FAQ
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