notes on Blue Jays

For the last few days, the main attraction of my back yard in Old Jefferson has been a family of Blue Jays.  As with many species, the young of the year are very evident by their solicitious behavior- whining and fluttering their wings to beg food from their parents, who they now essential equal in size.

The activity is centered in my back yard, where I have two foods available that they love:  black oil sunflower, and Purina Dog Chow.  The latter is of course not intended for the jays!

Some interesting tid bits about Blue Jays:

1- they can carry up to five acorns in the throat, mouth, and beak at once.
2- they cache these for later use- some tracked with radio transmitters cached 3-5000 in one autumn.
3- they are an example of a native bird that has benefited from human development (apparently)- they are much less common in woodlands surrounding New Orleans than in urban New Orleans itself.  Perhaps our habit of planting oaks has something to do with it (there are oaks in the woods, but probably fewer).

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.