this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2024

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Why did no one tell me that blue jays are kind of big? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[+] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (4 children)

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (3 children)

This sentiment always makes me laugh. We have a large family or three that live in the area and hang out on our feeder and water. They get pushed around by the morning doves, woodpeckers and sparrows. Cardinals and house finches spaz out on their own and fly off.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They get pushed around by the morning doves, woodpeckers and sparrows.

I've got a birdfeeder with a camera and can confirm that Blue Jays are NOT the bullies 99% of the time!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Yes! Educating people on the value of Blue Jays and trying to dispell the myths about them is important. Know my mom constantly is telling coworkers and others about how the Blue Jays get a bad rap. The ones around us have a mile plus wide communication network that gets the word out about predators and food being available. Kind of cool to hear them if you're on a walk and then see the hawk they're chasing/warning about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

For mine I watched the big male hold a Carolina Wren down and murder it while the others of the Wren's group tried to dive bomb and harass the Blue Jay.

I'm not sure what the Wren's did to it, but it made me like the Jays a little less.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Another vote for Jays getting a bad reputation. Mine are at least as polite as any of my other birds, if not moreso.

They look to have a pecking order among themselves though. I only ever really see them harass each other.

Otherwise they are charming and have great personalities. Mine all act very differently from each other and they give me endless hours of entertainment.

Big thumbs up to everyone here too for discussing this and not just downvoting you. This is how it should work.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Ours are just peanut fiends. They're either nowhere to be found or gobbling up peanuts.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's where I'm currently at with them. When I was working from home though, they'd call for me or get excited when they saw me walk up to the house. It made me feel like one of those people where the crows bring them stuff.

They taught some of the other birds to wait for the peanuts too. A breeding pair of cardinals and a few of the titmice learned from observation. Watching the tits fly off with a peanut near half their size is always entertaining!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Our cardinals seem to like peanuts but they can't really handle one in the shell; can't open their beaks wide enough to grip it. So we make sure they get the busted ones so there's an edge they can grab. Or they get safflower seeds which they have no problem with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I primarily only feed the birds during snow season, and then I put out shelled and unshelled so everyone can grab their preference. They all seem to prefer the ones in shells (freshness? more natural taste?) but if it's the smaller birds or a squirrel that wants to really load itself up, they'll grab the loose pieces.

Most of the jays refuse to touch the ones not in shells though if whole ones are available and some will even hang back for a while to see if I'll toss some more good ones before they'll settle for the loosies. They'll get pretty competitive for them too.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oh, word? 👀 That's good to know because best believe my head would be out the window trying to look at it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

No lie, mom hated them. They'd drag the babys out of our bird house and throw them on the ground to die.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

It’s funny how birds you’ve only seen in a guide book can seem like they’re ’supposed to be’ a very different size than they actually are! I always think shore birds are going to be bigger than they actually are. The first time I saw a willet it was enchantingly small.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

I heard the Jay before I saw it and honestly thought it was some kind of hawk 🤣 Then I saw this big bird and was like, "That's a blue Jay???" I thought they were, like... Finch size or something. My cat was unimpressed, but I was jazzed about it!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I was surprised how big Black-crowned night heron is, back when I saw them for the first time in Zoo. Its my favorite bird in the Wingspan board game, and I guess with their big head and the short neck, I was expected a smallish bird. Boy was I wrong.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I saw one recently at Carolina Beach, and only got a clumsy picture of it, but what a magnificent bird.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Well, they are crows, after all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Alolan Crow

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I didn't know that! That makes more sense about the size and sound. The more you know!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Jackdawius unidanius

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A little bigger than a cardinal, about half the size of a crow. sounds like a rusty gate when arguing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

sounds like a rusty gate when arguing

Hence why they are my favorite!* 💙

*(OK, tied with crows)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Takes the whole bird to make that sound. They have to bob up and down and move their wings and flick their tails to do it. Seems to be an effective way to settle disputes though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

You never asked me.