Blue Jay

Introduction

Blue Jays are found in a wide variety of habitats. This includes interior forests, open woodlands, yards, and parks, and most any other setting in-between.

They are most often found where there are oak trees present or nearby. This is due to their preference for feeding on acorns (more on this below).

Blue Jays are present in the Northeast year-round. Some will stay the same area year-round, whereas others will migrate seasonally.

Sometimes an individual will change whether or not they migrate during the winter from year-to-year. It’s not entirely clear what determines this, though food availability is likely a part of this.

Intelligence and more

Blue Jays are in the same family as crows and ravens. Blue Jays, like other members of this family (referred to as “Corvids”), are among some of the most intelligent birds.

Blue Jays, like other Corvids, often mate for life (until one of the pair dies), and are quite long-lived for a bird. In fact, the oldest known wild Blue Jay lived to be at least 26 years old!

Blue Jays are excellent mimics and can mimic songs of a number of other bird species. They sometimes mimic hawk calls, which scares away other birds at feeders for a short time, giving them sole access to the food/seed.

You can tell the mood of a Blue Jay by the height of the crest atop their head; the higher the crest is raised, the more aggressive of a mood they are in.

Oak Friend

Blue Jays eat and “cache” (hide by storing) lots of acorns. One radio-tracking study found each individual caching 3,000-5,000 acorns each during a single Autumn; and at an average distance of almost 3/4ths of a mile away! Many are likely not subsequently eaten, and thus may grow into oak trees.

Photo by Eridan Xharahi

Blue Jays can carry up to 5 acorns at a time when flying away to cache them. They can keep 3 in their “gular pouch” (an area in their upper throat), 1 in their mouth, and 1 in their bill.

The same Blue Jay feather with light from the front (left) and the light from behind (right)

Photos by Brad Timm

Not Actually Blue (!!)

Blue Jay feathers have no blue pigment in them at all. They appear blue due the way the feathers are structured, which reflects a blue color to us. Next time you find a Blue Jay feather, look at it with the light source behind it (for example, hold it up to the sun) and you’ll see it has no blue at all in it!