Jays are a fairly common bird species. To date, there are forty-four species of these birds. All of them belong to the Vranov family, a group of passerines. It is likely that somewhere there are still species unknown to ornithologists of these birds.
The blue jay bird is one of the most elegant among the representatives of its family, because it has a bright cover on the back and a blue scallop on the head. It lives mainly in North America: in Canada and the USA.
The size of the blue jay is up to 30 cm, and the weight is about 100 grams. Birds are very talented and quickly enough learn to imitate human speech. In size, males are larger than females.
Appearance and special color
The main feature is clearly visible in the photo of the blue jay. She has a long crest with a bright blue color. The eyes are framed by a black ring. The presence of a strong black beak makes it easy to crack a hard shell of nuts and seeds. Blue feathers grow on the wings. The tail is stepped and long enough. Eye color is dark. Differences in color between male and female are not observed.
Where the blue jays live
These birds prefer to inhabit parks, gardens, deciduous forests and coniferous thickets, residential areas. But they have a special love for oak groves. They also live in pine forests.
What do birds eat?
The beauty of the jay has an impressive diet. She eats plants, mushrooms and various animals. For instance:
- acorns, seeds and nuts;
- beetles, spiders and caterpillars;
- chicks, frogs and lizards.
A smart bird, before cracking a nut, will shock him a little. So she determines if there is a seed in the shell.
Sometimes a blue jay behaves in a hooligan way and takes food from other birds. He likes to steal berries from the beds. Blue Jay is only partly considered migratory. Only northern populations can fly south in cold weather. During the flight, they gather in large flocks.
The rest of the blue jays are left to winter. Therefore, they need to stock up on groceries. They store them under foliage, bury them in the ground or hide in the bark of trees. The stock of acorns of one jay for the winter can be up to five thousand pieces. In the photo, a blue jay picks berries.
Jays sometimes copy hawk behavior. They drive away hungry woodpeckers, gray squirrels and starlings from their food.
Jays have a wonderful memory. These birds remember all their hiding places with numerous reserves hidden, among which, there are always acorns and seeds.
Blue Beauty Character
This bird is the owner of a restless and at the same time cautious character. Jay is the very first to feel the approach of danger. She warns the congeners, uttering sharp cries. Sometimes in this case they gather in flocks. They begin to attack the enemy and peck him.
Jay is a relative of the raven and magpie. They all love shiny things. They steal them and take them to their home. Jay is a wonderful mimic of the voices of other birds. For this talent, the people call her a mockingbird.
When a bird visits a human settlement, upon returning to its wilderness it may begin to depict a goat bleating or a kitten meow.
The blue jay is so diverse in imitation of sounds that it can reliably show:
- sounds similar to the sound of a bell;
- melodic whistles;
- scream of a hawk.
Jays can easily become prey of predators, because they do not fly very fast. They are often attacked by hawks and owls. Jays behave quite bravely, because they engage in battle with predators, desperately fighting off, and not at all trying to escape from them.
Enemies ravaging their nests are crows, snakes, cats and even squirrels.
Jay Hygiene
Young birds begin to molt at the end of summer, and in August it all ends. Adult birds change their plumage for a long time, from about July to September.
When molting occurs, blue jays like to take ant baths. They specially sit on anthills and bathe in them. This is explained by the fact that in this way, they relieve itching during the growth of new feathers.
How do blue-winged birds work for families
In the family, the main person is the father of the family, then the brothers come, and last of all the mother and sisters.
Only mom and dad can produce offspring. Mating in front of children never happens. But when the father dies in the family, the eldest son inherits the territory.
If young couples find a free place in the thicket, then they can create their own family. But such an opportunity will appear in about four years. Jays create a couple for life.
During courtship, the female, as a real woman, is naughty, pretends to be small and asks to be fed from her beak. The groom feeds his beloved.
The couple is trying to build several nests, but at the same time leaves them unfinished. Perhaps they check each other's economic vein.
When communicating with each other, jays use their beautiful crest.
As soon as the first warm days begin, the time of mating season begins for the birds. From mid-April to June, jays join in pairs and begin to build a family nest.
They lay six to seven eggs of yellow-green color with brown spots. The female is engaged in hatching of chicks. After one week, children appear. Parents feed the babies together, clean their feathers, warm them and protect them from predators. Two weeks later, young growth flies out of the nest.
But another twenty days he returns to his parents for lunch. At first, the chicks feed exclusively on caterpillars, but after that they switch to plant food.
The physiological development of jars occurs in a year. In nature, they live from about ten to eighteen years.
What is the use of birds in the forest
Jay brings invaluable benefits to forest vegetation, as it destroys forest pests and insects:
- May beetles;
- barbel beetles;
- weevils;
- caterpillars.
Involuntarily they spread plants. Lost or forgotten seeds and acorns germinate and form groves.
Interesting Facts
The blue jay is in excellent contact with humans and tamed quite easily. Feels good in captivity.
The bird constantly shows aggression, and therefore it is impossible to keep it together with other relatives.
Beauty Jay is considered a bankrupt. Each year, they destroy a large number of small bird nests by drinking eggs and killing chicks.
The Blue Jay is the mascot of many sports teams, such as the Toronto Basketball Team.
The most beautiful birds in the family
The black-headed blue jay represents the genus Cyanocitta (blue jays). The same applies to the family of corvids.
Black-headed blue jay lives on the overgrown mountain slopes and in the coniferous groves of America. In winter, these birds can be found on the plain.
The black-headed jay has a longer and thinner beak, and the crest is slightly larger than that of its relatives. The feather cover of the upper torso is black, and the lower is dark blue. White stripes stand out on the forehead.
It is believed that the blue shrub jay differs from its other relatives in color. It lives exclusively in Florida. It is listed in the Red Book. Individuals ring in different colors.
This stunningly graceful bird is currently in extinction. The head, wings and tail are blue in color, and the stomach and chest are gray. This jay feeds on reptiles and insects, but at the same time consumes vegetation and seeds.
Frequent fires that continually occur in Florida destroy shrubby jays. Every year they become less and less.