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Blue Jays are some of the recognizable birds in North America!
You don’t have to be an skilled to establish these colourful, loud, clever birds.
However guess what? There’s much more to learn about Blue Jays than blue feathers and a boisterous character!
As we speak, you’re going to be taught 14 enjoyable info about Blue Jays!
Earlier than we start, I wished to share my LIVE fowl feeder cam with you. You could possibly observe a Blue Jay feeding proper at this very second! Their favourite meals at my feeding station are sunflower seeds, peanuts, and corn kernels. *JUST PRESS PLAY.*
Reality #1: Blue Jays aren’t blue!
You heard me accurately! And belief me, this blew my thoughts too! Though Blue Jays, are, effectively…blue, it’s only a trick of the sunshine.
For instance, a Northern Cardinal is purple as a result of its feathers are purple pigment. Blue Jays don’t have any such blue pigment. If you happen to crush the wing of a cardinal right into a powder, it is going to be purple. If you happen to do the identical with a blue jay feather, the powder will likely be brown.
SO WHY DO I SEE BLUE!?
Blue Jays (and all blue birds!) use somewhat trick referred to as mild scattering. In a really fundamental nutshell, when seen mild strikes the feathers, the entire colours go by the feather EXCEPT blue. The blue coloration is mirrored, so your eyes will see BLUE.
Don’t imagine me? Take a look at it for your self. Take a Blue Jay feather, get it moist, and it’ll flip brown. You’re interfering with the mechanism that displays mild, so you’ll not see blue.
Confused?
So am I. I by no means favored Physics class. And to be trustworthy, I’m unsure if the above image applies to Blue Jay feathers! ?
Reality #2: Women and men look the identical!
That is fairly uncommon within the birding world and known as sexual monomorphism. Most species of birds have men and women that look very completely different from one another, which is known as sexual dimorphism.
Regardless, since their plumage is similar, it’s difficult to inform sexes aside.
So how will you realize?
First, Males are normally bigger than females.
Second, their mating and courting behaviors give them away. Blue jays are sometimes seen in courtship teams (usually three to 10 birds). In these teams, a single feminine blue jay determines the conduct of the encompassing males. For instance, if a feminine begins to fly, the males observe; when the feminine lands, the group of males additionally lands.
Reality #3: They will stay a longggg time!
The typical age for a wild fowl is often 5-7 years. This quantity varies wildly based mostly on the person fowl and surroundings.
Nonetheless, the oldest recognized wild Blue Jay was not less than 26 years, 11 months previous! It was first banded in 1989 within the Newfoundland space and located useless in 2016 in fishing gear in the identical vary!
Most Blue Jays die from predators (hawks, raccoons, cats, snakes, squirrels, and many others) or flying right into a human-made object.
Nonetheless, in latest many years, West Nile Virus has precipitated a number of vital native declines. For no matter cause, Blue Jays are some of the vulnerable birds to this illness.
Reality #4: Blue Jays are the official state fowl of…
Zilch. Nowhere. Nada.
Poor guys. Zero out of Fifty. ?
In the meantime, the Northern Cardinal is hogging up seven states. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply that jays get no love!
In Canada, they’re the provincial fowl of Prince Edward Island. To not point out they’re the image of the Toronto Blue Jays main league baseball crew, together with a number of different faculties and universities!
Reality #5: They’re an alarm system for different birds.
One of many principal predators for the Blue Jay (together with different birds) is the Crimson-Shouldered Hawk. Jays are so good that they’ll imitate the sound of hawks when they’re noticed! This early alert protects many different birds from turning into lunch!
Nonetheless, Blue Jays can generally use this to their benefit. For instance, they are going to make hawk sounds even when none are current.
The result? Different birds fly away, leaving the Blue Jay first in line to eat.
Not a nasty concept! That is like yelling “FIRE” in a crowded restaurant and bypassing the wait! Nonetheless, I’m not endorsing or recommending this technique.
Reality #6: Blue Jays may be bullies.
Some say that Blue Jays have a pack mentality. They’re very cooperative with their species, and a bunch of jays will typically drive off different birds which can be utilizing “their” feeders.
Some yard birders dislike them for this conduct. Nonetheless, I’m not one in all them.
The benefit to the pack mentality is {that a} “band” of jays can drive off a hawk, cat, squirrel, raccoon, or different animals that threaten their habitat once they have sufficient members current.
The secret is to have small feeders that don’t accommodate large birds so finches, sparrows, and others can nonetheless have a spot for lunch. Separate feeders for larger birds will make the jays, cardinals, and different giant birds really feel welcome to go to, too.
Right here is my favourite fowl feeder for Blue Jays!
Jays like having a big, open area to feed. And this tray feeder may be hung within the air, mounted on a pole, or positioned on the bottom (as seen under).
Woodlink 3 in 1 Platform Fowl Feeder View As we speak’s Worth
Reality #7: Blue Jays are noisy and loud.
Initially, a jay was a talkative, impertinent, chatterbox of an individual who tended to dominate conversations. Blue Jays have been so named as a result of they are typically loud, full of life, and energetic.
The vary of their vocalizations is in depth. Some sounds are pleasant, whereas others may be loud and annoying. Hear a few of their widespread sounds on this video:
Nonetheless, there’s extra to blue jay squawking than meets the ear. The advanced vocalizations warn of predators, folks, and even alert different Blue Jays to extra meals!
Reality #8: Blue Jays fly gradual.
You’d suppose for being a big, aggressive fowl that Blue Jays would fly quick!
Not the case.
Though they appear to fly effortlessly with solely the occasional wing flap, they’re doing so fairly leisurely.
Blue Jays usually fly round 20-25 mph. For reference, geese can fly 60 mph, and falcons can attain speeds of 200 mph! As a consequence of this, they make simple prey for hawks, owls, and falcons. Blue Jays are usually extremely conscious of different birds of their neighborhood and may clarify why they’ve a hawk alarm system!
I suppose magnificence may be fairly expensive.
Reality #9: Blue Jays are very clever.
Blue Jays are good. Significantly good.
They’re a member of the Corvidae household, which incorporates ravens and crows, and consequentially, they’re extraordinarily clever. Actually, many scientists contemplate this Corvid household of birds to be the neatest animals on Earth.
Listed here are a couple of examples to display their brainy behaviors:
- Brown-headed cowbirds are generally recognized to sneak into different birds’ nests and lay eggs, abandoning their younger to foster guardian birds! Nonetheless, Blue Jays are too clever for this. As an alternative, the jays take a look at it as sizzling supply meals and have recent eggs for lunch.
- Blue Jays in captivity have been noticed utilizing instruments to acquire meals, equivalent to dragging strips of newspaper to deliver meals shut sufficient to achieve or manipulating locks on cages to flee.
- Jays are good sufficient to grasp the precept of ready. They’re recognized to sit down again and wait whereas people are having lunch after which swoop down and end scraps when they’re completed. On high of this, many farmers observe them ready till they’re completed planting to assist themselves to a leisurely feast of seeds!
Reality #10: Blue Jays like acorns.
So why is that attention-grabbing?
Effectively, Blue Jays retailer a lot of nuts (notably acorns) as a winter meals supply.
Many acorns which can be saved are by no means recovered from the place they have been buried or hidden. These acorns which can be misplaced have the potential to develop into oak bushes and create new forests. Their affection for acorns is credited with serving to unfold oak bushes after the final glacial interval!
Blue Jays and oak bushes have a productive symbiotic relationship with one another. Blue Jays get acorns to eat and in return, assist unfold and plant extra bushes to develop!
Reality #11: Blue Jays take “baths” in ants
Or not less than it seems to be like they do.
Blue Jays have interaction in one thing referred to as “anting.” This conduct entails spreading their wings, tucking their tail down, and continuing to crush and rub ants on their feathers earlier than consuming them.
Though not a Blue Jay, this fowl is demonstrating the identical “anting” conduct. Bizarre, proper?
Imagine it or not, there’s a completely cheap clarification for this conduct. Ants use formic acid as a weapon in opposition to predators equivalent to Blue Jays. Formic acid makes ants bitter tasting and birds don’t like that!
When a jay rubs an ant onto its feathers, it’s purposely getting the formic acid on itself. The formic acid helps hold away micro organism, fungus, mites, and different small bugs.
And as a bonus, as soon as the formic acid is eliminated, Blue Jays are then capable of eat and benefit from the ants. ?
Reality #12: Blue Jays type monogamous bonds.
As soon as the feminine Blue Jay chooses her mate, they usually turn into monogamous mates for all times.
Moreover, Blue Jay dads aren’t deadbeats!
Each male and females construct the nest and rear the younger. Whereas the feminine is sitting on her eggs, the male will feed and maintain her!
The tight household bond doesn’t finish there. The whole household will depart the nest and journey collectively as soon as the younger are round 17-21 days previous.
Reality #13: Their migration patterns are…bizarre.
In contrast to different birds, Blue Jays do not need a predictable migration sample. Blue Jays will typically keep in a habitat year-round. Then, out of the blue, they are going to resolve emigrate and head south!
Why keep for years on finish after which all of the sudden choose up and depart for no obvious cause, solely to return the subsequent spring? To be trustworthy, nobody is 100% certain.
The very best clarification for this odd conduct is that it’s associated to climate situations and the way considerable the winter meals sources are within the space.
Reality #14: Blue Jays prefer to get together!
As we now have talked about, jays are loud, boisterous birds that usually make a giant entrance.
So we shouldn’t be stunned {that a} group of Blue Jays is also known as a “get together” or a “band”.
The Takeaway
Love them or hate them, these birds are survivors, spurred on by their phenomenal intelligence.
They are often loud and they are often bullies, however they’re additionally stunning creatures that deserve our respect and admiration.
Given the suitable feeders, meals, and preparation, they are going to make a gorgeous addition to your yard!
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