By Abby West
Photo by Jim Ridley

Blue jays are unmistakable with their highly saturated plumage and loud, harsh calls. They are ubiquitous throughout Central Texas and the Eastern United States, which can easily lead us to take them for granted or overlook them. Although in reality, most folks who pay attention to birds have strong opinions about blue jays one way or the other: perceiving them as aggressive jerks or finding their outgoing personalities quite charming. In either case they are, in fact, a lot.

They’re highly social and intelligent birds, forming close bonds. The black band around their neck and face are unique to each bird, and it’s thought that this aids in helping with facial recognition among different individuals. Their crest also is an adaptation for communication: when it is high, it means they are alert or on edge. It lowers when they are at rest, eating with others or tending to their hatchlings.

They’re in the Corvid family along with crows and ravens, which are known to be some of the most intelligent birds in the world. Although tool-use has yet to be observed in the wild, in captivity blue jays have been known to use scraps of newspaper to bring food into their cages. And perhaps their most famous party trick is their ability to mimic hawk calls with astounding accuracy. Scientists are still somewhat befuddled as to exactly why they do this, although most believe it has to do with warning other blue jays of a hawk’s presence or deceiving other species that a hawk is nearby. But neither of these theories have been definitively confirmed. Fascinatingly though, captive blue jays have learned to imitate a cat’s meow and even human speech.

Blue jays are not only intelligent, they can be notoriously aggressive. Although this may be a point of contention, as there is no end to people dissecting online, “well are they really aggressive? or are they just protective?” However you want to phrase it, it’s well-known they are highly territorial around both feeding sites and their nests, but who among us doesn’t relate to that? And although it is rare, blue jays are credited with a kind of violence towards other birds. In fact, reddit is full of terrifying tales of blue jays decapitating and/or eating the nestlings of other birds.. or just eating other birds outright. My dear friend in Houston developed a particular hatred for blue jays because a pair nesting in the tree near her front yard developed a habit of not only dive-bombing her head every morning on her way to work, but also leaving a trail of decapitated birds around her lawn. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, blue jays actually eating the eggs and nestlings of other birds does happen but is quite rare, with perhaps 1% of blue jays engaging in this behavior.

Their diet is famously varied: they eat anything from peanuts and acorns to paint chips (because calcium) and as we learned, (sometimes) other birds. We ought to be extremely grateful for their affinity towards acorns, as they contribute to reforestation the same way squirrels do. They often pick an acorn and bring it far away from where they got it, burying it for later consumption, and can forget all about it, planting an oak tree in the process. They are so prone to these happy accidents that scientists at Cornell Lab believe blue jays aided the expansion of oak forests across the North American continent after the last ice age. So the next time you see a blue jay squawking, stealing paint from your house, or dive-bombing your head, don’t forget to say thank you.

Sources:
Blue Jay, Audubon Field Guide
Blue Jay,  Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds
Five fascinating facts about bedeviling blue jays, Forest Preserve District Will County