100 More Species #31: Blue jay

[urbpan]

Blue jay Cyanocitta cristata

Blue jays are loud colorful members of the crow family corvidae. Like crows they have strong family bonds, with offspring from one pair helping to raise the next years' chicks. Also like crows, blue jays are broadly omnivorous and bold, frequently making use of human-provided food sources. Being larger than most suburban songbirds, they can dominate birdfeeders, filling their crop with seeds and caching them away; a family of jays can empty a feeder in a short time. Blue jays in the north east and north west have crests, while those in other parts of the continent are smooth-headed.

Jays are vocal mimics, imitating red-tailed hawks most often in my experience. They are noisy sentinels, alerting any species that can hear to the presence of predators, and aggressively driving away threats occasionally. They can also be nest predators, feeding the eggs and chicks of other songbirds. Our neighborhood jays run the place like a mafia, nesting across the street and getting their beaks into every operation nearby. The ones pictured here noticed a bowl of food for the puppy and then got wise to a human's sloppy potato chip eating habits.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I feed blue jays peanuts each morning on my porch--they're a pleasure to watch. In the winter, the tufted titmice get in on the act, grabbing peanuts here and there.

I realized I could feed them when I realized they had made it a habit to visit the porch, prowling my temporary compost bin for eggshells. They love eggshell, which strikes me as like eating placenta or something (which I guess some cultures have done, at least ceremonially).

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

I remember calling them "clothes line birds" because they made the same squeeky sound that a rusty clothes line made. I had no idea they were copying the sound! Ha.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

My dad was dive-bombed by a blue jay when he got too close to her nest once. She drew blood. He didn't blame her one bit. ;)

[by-steph.livejournal.com]

Hmm, the blue jays in Texas and in the Midwest have crests too. The scrub jay has a smooth head....

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. I see that the bluejay range is further west and south than I thought. Makes it all the way to the gulf of mexico by the petersons guide, and north into the prairie states.

(Don't be shy about telling me I'm wrong when I'm wrong!)

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

You're good and they're very photogenic. Nice combination.