Hey! A Jay!

The Blue Jays don't spend much time in our yard. They swoop in to snack at the Bark Butter feeders and then...off they go! Fun Blue Jay Facts: a group of Blue Jays is called a 'band' or a 'party', and are sometimes even called a 'scold' 'cause they can be very, very noisy! Blue Jays are really good at mimicking the calls of Red-shouldered hawks. It's not clear if this mimic skill is for warning other Jays about hawks in the vicinity or fooling other birds into believing a predator is present. Their feathers contain the pigment melanin, which is brown. Their feathers appear blue from light being scattered through special cells on the surface of each feather. 
Only a couple Jays at a time visit our yard and not every day. They can be rather pushy with the other birds, but that's just a 'Jay Thing'. And, surprisingly, they don't seem the least bit interested in the raw peanuts we toss out each morning. So, more for the squirrels! 
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