Jays are sensible, curious, and mischievous. If there may be hassle taking place, they’re in the course of it. They simply can’t assist themselves. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of the jays discovered within the US and Canada. I want to share some tales of their behaviours and my experiences with them.
Canada Jay
The Canada Jay is our nationwide chicken, as a result of it’s discovered all through the nation. Nicknamed the Whisky Jack, it visits campsites within the north woods or in mountain forests. They may land on a picnic desk, hoping the campers will share their meals with them.
Mexican Jay
Mooching a meal is frequent behaviour for a lot of jays. I’ve seen Steller’s Jays swoop down on picnickers, hopping among the many meals choices, attempting to seize a chew. The folks attempt to shoo them away, however these birds are persistent. In Arizona, our information would toss path combine removed from us. It was to maintain the Mexican Jays from bothering us. However, they discovered a greater supply of meals. A campsite had slightly canine. These jays observed its full dinner bowl. They went over and helped themselves. The poor canine might solely watch and yap at them.
Blue Jay
Brash Blue Jays should not well-liked with different birds. They harass hawks and owls, plus they steal nestlings from different songbirds. Blue Jays are nice mimics. In Toronto, I hear them imitating Pink-Tailed Hawk screams. In SW Florida, they mimic the cries of the Pink-Shouldered Hawk, which is the frequent native hawk there. One idea for this behaviour is that they’re attempting to scare different birds off from meals sources. I feel they do it for enjoyable, because it’s a part of their repertoire of bizarre sounds.
Inexperienced Jay
Present in southern Texas and the Decrease Rio Grande Valley, the Inexperienced Jay is a gaudy, tropical resident. Images don’t do it justice. That is one gorgeous chicken, hanging out in parks or the grounds of your B&B.
One jay that does keep removed from folks and feeders is the Pinyon Jay. Our information took us into the northern a part of Arizona to seek out them. These birds wander in giant flocks, trying to find pinyon pine to allow them to feed on the timber’ seeds. We have been up early that day, consuming our breakfast from her truck’s tailgate. Immediately, we noticed a flock fly over the hilltop after which they have been gone. She advised us that’s often all of the views you’re going to get of that chicken.
Florida Scrub-Jay
The {photograph} on the high of this weblog is an image of me with a Florida Scrub-Jay. These birds reside in social teams year-round. They like native scrub oak habitats. That was not the case with this chicken and its fellow jays. In 2018, a neighborhood birder took us out to see them. They’d made their house in a small subdivision of homes. There was an empty lot, with a few timber, which had a tangle of bushes and vines on each. This was their territory and residential. They knew the birder, as a result of he had an extended historical past with them, plus he at all times carried peanuts. They flew out and landed on him, anticipating their deal with. He put a peanut on my hat and there you might have my image. I used to be handing out peanuts to those birds and so they even flew into the open window of our automobile to get extra.
The following day a good friend and I went again there on our personal. We had met one other visiting birder, who wanted this jay for his life record. We went again to the identical spot, however no jays greeted us, even once I had treats in my palms. My good friend and the opposite birder went to search for different birds, hoping the jays would come out later. As quickly as they left, one of many jays got here out and landed on my hand. (Critters like me!) I bought my good friend’s consideration and advised her to return again. As quickly because the chicken noticed them strategy, it darted again into the tree’s tangle. It was barely seen, however the different birder noticed sufficient of it to be glad. We might hear it making comfortable sounds, most likely warning the remainder of the group to remain hidden. What a tremendous encounter with this threatened species.
Encounters with jays are enjoyable and fascinating. You by no means know what they’re going to do. Simply keep in mind to cover your lunch 😉
Observe: All photographs are from Wikipedia Commons, a web based supply of copyright-free photographs, aside from image of me with Florida Scrub-Jay (taken by a good friend).
