By Burt Glover
July 16, 2023

Of all the birds that regularly frequent my neighborhood, I would have to deem the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) as the one with the most personality. Its scientific name derives from the Greek and Latin, translating to “crested, blue chattering bird.” Its common name comes from the perception that it is blue, and that its calls sound to some like, “Jay… jay. jay!” I can’t really say that the Blue Jay has a song. More likely, it is just noises. Gurgles, rattles, clicks, chucks, whirrs, ear-piercing calls… and imitations.

A few of the Jays in my neighborhood have become masters of imitating Red-Shouldered Hawk calls. Blue Jays in different areas are reported to mimic all varieties of hawks, some owls, eagles, kestrels and seagulls. For more than a hundred years, people have tried to decipher why Jays do these imitations. To date, nobody really knows. My take — they do it just because they can. 

In reference to my earlier remark — the perception that Blue Jays are blue — they are not. The pigment in their feathers is melanin, just as in our skin. Melanin is brown, and if you hold a Blue Jay feather up to the light, it is brown. The blue color is caused by the scattering of light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs.

This is the reason that Bluebirds are not really blue, nor Blue Grosbeaks, nor Indigo Buntings, nor any other blue-colored bird. The “blue” colors change on each bird as light conditions change. This is also the reason that the sky appears to be blue, or that blue eyes are blue. It is all just an illusion. The black colors on Blue Jays are real, however. The black “collar” on their throats varies extensively on each bird, and those differences are most likely how Jays recognize one another.

You may have read of “anting” by Blue Jays. I remember seeing photos of Blue Jays, rubbing ants on their plumage. The ants squirt formic acid to defend themselves. People say, “Well, heck, the jays are using those ant secretions to get rid of their own parasites.” It doesn’t seem to be so. Formic acid is ineffective on parasites. Mostly, this behavior seems to be an effort to purge each ant of their nasty, bitter taste before being swallowed. Jays are, if nothing practical birds.

Blue Jays were mostly responsible, it is believed, for repopulating the barren northern climates with trees as the glaciers from the last Ice Age receded from the North American continent. Squirrels did help, burying their nuts near the base of the trees where they were gathered, but Blue Jays were, in my opinion, likely more instrumental.

Using their throat as a pouch, a Blue Jay can collect as many as six acorns. The seeds of Oaks, Pines, Beeches, Pecans, Chestnuts, and others are carried — sometimes up to five miles away — and buried in shallow holes in multiple locations. An article in Natural History magazine recounts the observation of fifty Jays spreading 150,000 acorns over a period of 28 days. The Jays and other animals recover many of these hidden seeds. The rest are potential trees.

I’ve been throwing the shells from my morning eggs out at the base of an oak tree in the yard since last winter. (It is recommended to first bake the shells at 250 degrees for 10 minutes). Birds rely on these as grit to grind up food in their gizzards and as a source of calcium for producing their own eggs. Egg shells are a much healthier alternative to eating leaded paint chips shed from neighborhood houses, a habit unfortunately practiced by some birds. The egg shells I cast out disappear at a surprising rate. The main culprit: Blue Jays. They carry them off and cache them in their own private larders. 

Many people characterize Jaybirds as thieves, due to their habit of “lifting” things that maybe they shouldn’t. Yes, they do sometimes steal eggs or nestlings from the nests of other birds. Extensive studies have found that only 1% of blue jays indulge in this behavior. They will also carry off treasures that they find lying around — jewelry, coins, bits of foil and shiny whatnots from roadside trash. Many of these finds will be incorporated into their bulky stick nests. Jays are actually more helpful than hazardous to other birds, as they will relentlessly screech and mob after owls, hawks, cats and snakes that might threaten the neighborhood birds.       

My father once wrote a story about Blue Jays and snakes, in which he painted an observation I’d never noticed. When Blue Jays see a snake in a tree, (likely on its way to visit a bird nest), they alert the rest of the bird kingdom. “Snake!” they cry as they mob the marauder. “Snake! Snake! Snake!” 

This draws the other birds from all four corners who add their alarms to the chorus. If you go to the scene of the cries, you can usually spot the center of the fracas. Here is where you’ll likely find a lone Mockingbird, right there in striking distance of the snake, giving him a good scolding. For all the bravado of Blue Jays, they can’t hold a candle to the Mockingbird, whose pluck is as fearless as any hawk.

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Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. Birds are his first love, and he can identify an impressive range by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.