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Bird's-Eye View - Likeable Rogue: The intelligent blue jay is full of bluster, but at heart he's just a family-loving bird
David Disher Photo
A blue jay enjoys a fine day at Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem.
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Published: November 7, 2009
"Who could imagine that a form so graceful, arrayed by nature in a garb so resplendent, should harbour so much mischief…!"
In Birds of America, James J. Audubon describes the handsome blue jay as a rogue and knave, and the bird's demeanor does little to diminish a reputation as an egg stealer and bully.
Yet, the blue jay is both beautiful and intelligent, and perhaps it deserves more respect.
It's hard not to notice a blue jay. It's strikingly beautiful in blue and white dress with black trim and adorned with a prominent crest. It's also large, noisy and aggressive. And almost every yard seems to have one, two, three or even more.
The blue jay is one our most common birds from the East Coast to the Rockies, and from Canada to Florida. It belongs to the corvid family of smart and raucous birds that also includes ravens, crows and magpies. There are several other jay species in the United States, but only the blue jay resides in North Carolina and neighboring states.
Blue jays thrive here because of all the acorns and beechnuts on our large trees. Nuts are their favorite foods. My wife long ago gave up trying to feed peanuts to our chipmunks. The blue jays would watch and grab the treats first. But they also eat seeds, suet, grains, fruit, insects, small animals and carrion.
Audubon vilified blue jays as egg suckers, nestling eaters and killers of other songbirds. They are aggressive, but their predatory nature may be overstated. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports that a study of their feeding habits showed only 1 percent of jays with evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Some of the blue jays' aggression seems to be bluster only. They back off when challenged by other birds, such as cardinals, woodpeckers and mockingbirds.
Jays are appropriately named for their raucous calls: jay, jay, or jayer, jayer. Listen to them over time, and you will hear a variety of other calls, squawks and gurgles. One two-note call sounds like a rusty gate or pump as it creaks. They also do great imitations of kestrels and red-shouldered hawks, although it is not clear whether they do this to warn other birds or just to deceive them.
For alleged rogues, blue jays exhibit strong family bonds. They usually mate for life, and they share in nest-building and parenting. The male also feeds the female while she is incubating the eggs. During nesting, jays become less aggressive. They lower their crests and generally become quieter. After the chicks fledge, the family forages together until fall.
But should a hawk or owl approach the nest area, they mob the intruder in an effort to drive it off. Many a person has discovered that they will react similarly to humans who venture too close to a nest or a chick that has prematurely ventured out on its own.
Jays in this area do not migrate, but some northern birds join them in the fall. In colder regions, homeowners report blue jays eating house paint during winter. Why would they do that? Birds need calcium to use in egg production, and apparently blue jays eat twice the calcium of other songbirds. Placing egg shells outside deters the paint-eaters.
My friend Ramona Snavely always reminded us to put out egg shells for jays and other birds. It's a good idea to boil or heat the shells first to kill any salmonella bacteria.
Like crows, blue jays are intelligent and curious. Captive birds have extended their vocal skills to imitate human speech, and young jays play with brightly-colored or reflective objects. Jays watch people who leave food unattended and then snatch it up. They also watch farmers sow seeds and dig them up. In addition, they store food.
Jays outfitted with radio transmitters individually gathered 3,000 to 5,000 acorns in an autumn. Undoubtedly, many of these nuts became trees.
You can see nut-gathering jays and other birds during Forsyth Audubon's bird walk on Nov. 14 at the Muddy Creek Greenway. Meet at 9 a.m. at the parking area just south of Meadowlark Middle School on Meadowlark Drive, between Country Club and Robinhood roads. For more information, contact Phil Dickinson at pdickins@gmail.com or 336-659-2464.
Bird's-Eye View is a joint column by Ron Morris and Phil Dickinson. Today's column was written by Dickinson. Dickinson is a legal writer. He has been an active birder for 15 years, and is a past president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County and chairs the conservation committee. Morris retired after 24 years as curator at the N.C. Zoo. He has studied birds around the world and is currently the vice president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County. If you have a birding question or story idea, write to Bird's-Eye View in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101-3159, or send an e-mail to birding@wsjournal.com . Please type "birds" in the subject line.
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