Jays are smart, curious, and mischievous. If there is trouble happening, they are in the middle of it. They just can’t help themselves. I have been lucky to see most of the jays found in the US and Canada. I would like to share some stories of their behaviours and my experiences with them.
Canada Jay
The Canada Jay is our national bird, because it is found throughout the country. Nicknamed the Whisky Jack, it visits campsites in the north woods or in mountain forests. They will land on a picnic table, hoping the campers will share their food with them.
Mexican Jay
Mooching a meal is common behaviour for many jays. I have seen Steller’s Jays swoop down on picnickers, hopping among the food offerings, trying to grab a bite. The people try to shoo them away, but those birds are persistent. In Arizona, our guide would toss trail mix far from us. It was to keep the Mexican Jays from bothering us. But, they found a better source of food. A campsite had a little dog. These jays noticed its full dinner bowl. They went over and helped themselves. The poor dog could only watch and yap at them.
Blue Jay
Brash Blue Jays are not popular with other birds. They harass hawks and owls, plus they steal nestlings from other songbirds. Blue Jays are great mimics. In Toronto, I hear them imitating Red-Tailed Hawk screams. In SW Florida, they mimic the cries of the Red-Shouldered Hawk, which is the common local hawk there. One theory for this behaviour is that they are trying to scare other birds off from food sources. I think they do it for fun, as it’s part of their repertoire of weird sounds.
Green Jay
Found in southern Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the Green Jay is a gaudy, tropical resident. Photographs don’t do it justice. This is one stunning bird, hanging out in parks or the grounds of your B&B.
One jay that does stay far from people and feeders is the Pinyon Jay. Our guide took us into the northern part of Arizona to find them. These birds wander in large flocks, searching for pinyon pine so they can feed on the trees’ seeds. We were up early that day, eating our breakfast from her truck’s tailgate. Suddenly, we saw a flock fly over the hilltop and then they were gone. She told us that is usually all the views you’re going to get of that bird.
Florida Scrub-Jay
The photograph at the top of this blog is a picture of me with a Florida Scrub-Jay. These birds live in social groups year-round. They prefer native scrub oak habitats. That was not the case with this bird and its fellow jays. In 2018, a local birder took us out to see them. They had made their home in a small subdivision of houses. There was an empty lot, with a couple of trees, which had a tangle of bushes and vines on each one. This was their territory and home. They knew the birder, because he had a long history with them, plus he always carried peanuts. They flew out and landed on him, expecting their treat. He put a peanut on my hat and there you have my picture. I was handing out peanuts to these birds and they even flew into the open window of our car to get more.
The next day a friend and I went back there on our own. We had met another visiting birder, who needed this jay for his life list. We went back to the same spot, but no jays greeted us, even when I had treats in my hands. My friend and the other birder went to look for other birds, hoping the jays would come out later. As soon as they left, one of the jays came out and landed on my hand. (Critters like me!) I got my friend’s attention and told her to come back. As soon as the bird saw them approach, it darted back into the tree’s tangle. It was barely visible, but the other birder saw enough of it to be satisfied. We could hear it making soft sounds, probably warning the rest of the group to stay hidden. What an amazing encounter with this threatened species.
Encounters with jays are fun and interesting. You never know what they are going to do. Just remember to hide your lunch 😉
Note: All photos are from Wikipedia Commons, an online source of copyright-free photos, except for picture of me with Florida Scrub-Jay (taken by a friend).
The Eurasian Jay was called “Flemish Jay” in Dutch, but has been renamed to just “Jay”. We have only one jay, which is deeply unfair.