#blue jay

Blue Jay

(Cyanocitta Cristata)

Status: Least Concern (IUCN), Low Concern (R2R)

The blue jay is a common, bright bird which is familiar to many people in North America. They are large songbirds (smaller than crows, larger than robins) that can be seen in much of the eastern and central areas of the USA, as well as some parts of southern Canada. They have a white or light grey belly and are various shades of blue, black, and white above. Their tails and wings are mostly blue with black stripes, sometimes sporting a white tip. They also have a noticeable crest. They live in all sorts of forests but especially near oak trees. They mainly eat insects, nuts, and grains, but sometimes they take small dead or injured vertebrates, raid nests for eggs and nestlings, or even dead or dying adult birds.

Fun fact: Blue jays often mimick the calls of their local hawks, especially the red-tailed hawk. This is usually either used to alert nearby birds of a predator, or to scare off other birds at feeders.

Fun fact #2: Like all birds, blue jays molt just after their breeding season. However, they lose all of their head feathers at once, instead of losing a few at a time. This pattern can also be found in northern cardinals.

Can you tell i like blue jays.