Blue again

I could not resist, I had lots of other choices, but the bluest bird won out. Thanks so much for the great response to yesterday's peanut packin' jay beak, it was lots of fun posting and enjoying the comments. My shoulders ache a bit from the 300mm, but it's so much fun seeing these feathered souls in such detail.

One of the most colorful birds, the blue jay, was named for its blue plumage and the Latin "gaius," which means gay or merry. A blue jay's feather, when found, is said to have mystical powers.

Early Rising
Cherokee Indians believed that if you came across a blue jay feather, the finder should soak it in water and then brush it over a child's eye. The child would be come an early riser.

Its plumage is lavender-blue to mid-blue in the crest, back, wings, and tail, and its face is white. The underside is off-white and the neck is collared with black which extends to the sides of the head. The wing primaries and tail are strongly barred with black, sky-blue and white. The bill, legs, and eyes are all black. Males and females are nearly identical except that males are slightly larger.

As with other blue-hued birds, the Blue Jay's coloration is not derived from pigments but is the result of light interference due to the internal structure of the feathers;[citation needed] if a blue feather is crushed, the blue disappears as the structure is destroyed.This is referred to as structural coloration.

Blue Jays have strong black bills used for cracking nuts and acorns, and for eating corn, grains and seeds, although they also eat insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars.

Blue Jays can make a large variety of sounds, and individuals may vary perceptibly in their calling style. Like other corvids, they may learn to mimic human speech. Blue Jays can also copy the cries of local hawks so well that it is sometimes difficult to tell which it is. Their voice is typical of most jays in being varied, but the most commonly recognized sound is the alarm call, which is a loud, almost gull-like scream. There is also a high-pitched jayer-jayer call that increases in speed as the bird becomes more agitated.This particular call can be easily confused with the chickadee's song because of the slow starting chick-ah-dee-ee. Blue Jays will use these calls to band together to mob potential predators such as hawks and drive them away from the jays' nests.

Blue Jays also have quiet, almost subliminal calls which they use among themselves in proximity. One of the most distinctive calls of this type is often referred to as the "rusty pump" owing to its squeaky resemblance to the sound of an old hand-operated water pump. The Blue Jay (and other corvids) are distinct from all other songbirds for using their call as a birdsong.

Jays are some of the more intelligent birds. They will wait and watch for a person to put food down and as soon as the person walks away they will swoop down and steal it. Along with crows, jays will also watch a person planting seed crops and afterwards dig up and eat the seeds. Jays are very territorial birds, and they will chase others from a feeder for an easier meal. The Blue Jay has a bad reputation as a raider of other birds' nests, stealing eggs, chicks, and nests. However, this may not be as widespread as is typically thought.

Blue Jays, like other corvids, are highly curious. Young individuals playfully snatch brightly coloured or reflective objects, such as bottle caps or pieces of aluminium foil, and carry them around until they lose interest. Blue jays in captivity have been observed using strips of newspaper as tools to obtain food.

Other choice...


Soft landing