[Mnbird] A surfeit of blue jays

[DONALD GRUSSING Owner]

I once saw blue jay dive at a house wren that was nesting in a house in my yard. It was hard to see them on the ground, but then the jay flew up into an oak tree carrying something in its beak. It started whacking at it like they do with nuts. I walked underneath the jay to try to see what was going on. The jay ignored me and kept delivering blows. So I threw a couple of sticks at it and the jay flew off dropping the item of interest. It was indeed a freshly killed house wren and its skull had been opened and emptied. 

Another interesting peek into the private lives of corvidae. 

Don Grussing 
Minnetonka 


From: "mnbird" <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> 
To: crandallk at aol.com 
Cc: "mnbird" <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> 
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2020 4:26:20 PM 
Subject: Re: [Mnbird] A surfeit of blue jays 

They do seem to congregate together. I have noticed that jays watch out for one another. And they will take turns feeding and watching. 
I have come to the conclusion that where you see one jay, you will soon see, or at least, hear, another, if not more. 
I know some people do not like them, but I rather do. 
They are smart, and they are quite pretty. Sure, they can be annoying. 
And a pair of jays once were the torment of a cat of mine who yes, we did let outside. The jays would wait for us to open the door and let him out and they would harass him making him skulk low to the ground and beg to come back in. They knew what they were doing! That cat stopped going out that door. 
I was a young girl then, didn't realize about cats and outdoors and birds. Not to mention the gravity it could mean to the cat. 
I own cats still, they stay indoors. They are protected and so are the birds and other small creatures. 


- Pamela 
Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. - Unknown 

“There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.” 
― Aldo Leopold 
I am one who cannot. 


On Sat, Jan 18, 2020 at 1:24 PM < [ mailto:crandallk at aol.com | crandallk at aol.com ] > wrote: 



For the first time in 24 years, I have at least 6 blue jays hanging around the feeders since late summer. They all seem to congregate at one feeder at a time. 

Kim 
East Bethel, northern Anoka County 


-----Original Message----- 
From: Pamela Freeman via Mnbird < [ mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net | mnbird at lists.mnbird.net ] > 
To: mnbird < [ mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net | mnbird at lists.mnbird.net ] > 
Sent: Sat, Jan 18, 2020 1:05 pm 
Subject: [Mnbird] A surfeit of blue jays 

Has anyone else noticed in their locations a surfeit of Jay's? 
We live in Oak Grove, northern Anoka county. I tallied 14 Jay's this morning around my various feeders, and I am not at all certain I counted them all. 
During the Cedar Creek CBC route we participated on we also had a remarkable number of Jay's, only outnumbered by the chickadees. 

We have noticed this profusion of jays since the fall, at least. 

What so far is absent this winter, redpolls. 
At least here. 

Good birding, all, 
Pamela 




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