Cyanocitta cristata

Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata

We think of the Blue Jay as a community warning system.  If there’s gaggle of Blue Jays all raising an alarm call, chances are good there’s a hawk or other predator around.  Sometimes they are warning of a Cooper’s Hawk sitting in a tree waiting to pick off its next meal and sometimes they may be telling the other birds about a Red-tailed or Red-shouldered Hawk flying high.

We’ve noticed that Blue Jays will also mimic the call of hawks, especially the call of the Red-shouldered Hawk.  Nobody is quite sure why they do this.  Maybe it’s a signal that hawks really are around or maybe it’s a deceptive ploy to run everybody else off. [3]

Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata

The Blue Jay is a striking bird.  It’s predominantly blue with a white chest and underpants, and a blue crest.  The Blue Jay has a black, U-shaped collar around its neck and a black border behind the crest. Both genders are similar in size and plumage, and plumage does not vary throughout the year. [1]

The blue Jay is also very intelligent. [3]  Young individuals playfully snatch brightly colored or reflective objects, such as bottle caps or pieces of aluminum foil, and carry them around until they lose interest. [1]

Blue Jay at a bird feeder

We’ve always thought of the Blue Jay as a very aggressive bird, and in certain situations they are.  However, Blue jays are frequently subservient to other medium-sized birds who visit bird-feeders.  In Florida, Blue jays are dominated at feeders by Eastern gray squirrels, Florida scrub-jays, common grackles and red-headed woodpeckers, all of which have been occasionally observed to aggressively prevent the Blue Jays from feeding. [1]

Blue jays are not very picky about nesting locations. If no better place is available, they will even use places like the large mailboxes typical of the rural United States^.   They also appropriate nests of other mid-sized songbirds as long as these are placed in suitable spots; American Robin nests are commonly used by Blue Jays, for example. [1]

References and Additional Information

[1] Wikipedia: Blue Jay
[2] The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition – David Allen Sibley
[3] Cornell – All About Birds: Blue Jay
[4] Cornell – All About Birds: Blue Jay – sounds
[5] The Breeding Bird Atlas of Georgia – UGA Press: Schneider, Beaton, Keyes and Klaus, Eds.