5 Good Reasons To Like Blue Jays

[Music] Bluejays often get a bad rap some people find them too loud and aggressive or mean but in this video I hope to show the better side of these beautiful boisterous birds and hopefully help people to change their opinion of them please enjoy number-5 ecosystem impact dispersal of seeds because blue jays hide seeds and nuts they sometimes forget to find and eat them and thus they may help plants disperse their seeds in fact it's thought that their fondness for acorns as well as their accuracy in selecting and burying acorns that have not been infested with weevils that blue jays had a part with spreading oak trees after the last glacial period I have even known friends who had a sunflower or to sprout up in their garden despite not actually planting them the only thing they could figure was that due to feeding the jays sunflower seeds one of them must have hid one in the garden but forgot about it and voila number four protect smaller birds although inadvertent blue jays may save many other birds from a bird of prey because they will often mob birds of prey or give a loud alarm call when one is spotted causing the birds of prey - sometimes flee thus saving not only the jays but other birds as well it's not only birds of prey they will mob - they often mud cats so if you have one hanging around the feeder area and a blue jay is around everyone is going to know about it good Jay number three they may keep nasty insects away blue jays eat a wide variety of things including insects in fact in spring and summer insects make up a large portion of their diet some of the insects they eat can be harmful or a nuisance to humans such as tent caterpillars can you imagine waking up to this in spring Blue Jays may feed hundreds and hundreds of these nasty little buggers to their nestlings thus helping to keep the population down and your car and house safe another thing they love to eat is wasps and their larvae if you have blue jays hanging around your backyard it's highly unlikely that any wasp will get fur with building a nest I've seen blue jays take a small wasps nest and rip them apart leaving nothing behind not even the Queen good Jay number two they are an attractive addition to our backyards one thing you can't deny is that these birds are very beautiful those lovely blues their black Bridal and perky crest anyone who visits me always remarks on how beautiful the jays are and they stay at the window with the binoculars looking at them they are definitely one of the stars of backyard feeders and fun to show off to visitors number one interesting and amusing to watch blue jays are highly intelligent birds you never know what you will witness them doing I have been closely observing my jays for almost seven years and I still witness something new and incredible from them all of the time you may see them doing something like imitating the call of a hawk to deceive other birds at the feeders don't worry most birds return to the feeder or you may see them chipping paint up a shed or house and carrying it off why would they do that for the calcium that is in some light colored paint this is because sine birds can't store sufficient amounts of calcium in their body and thus have to look for in their environment and when it's winter and the snow is covering the ground well they have to turn to something else and somehow they figured out that there's calcium and some light colored paint one time just last summer I witnessed a female blue jay I've known for years named sweet girl looking in the tubulars of pitcher plants for insects to feed her hungry fledglings smart girl the male's can be so funny to watch especially in late winter and on into spring when they are getting pretty territorial they will use their squeaky gate kyle and bob up and down just look at this guy oh my pretty funny trust me blue jays are worth watching and here's a bonus they mate for life and are very caring parents of their offspring not all birds mate for life but these guys do they form a pretty tight and close bond and work so hard together to raise their young the males are absolutely amazing fathers who take wonderful care of their young so there you go some reasons to hopefully help you reconsider your feelings of the blue jay and thus making you more accepting of them enjoying their interesting behaviors and they're fascinating calls they make so much more than that raucous cheer thanks for watching and happy birding [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Lesley the Bird Nerd

Views: 718,715

Keywords: lesleythebirdnerd, birds, nature, wildlife, blue jay, corvid, birdwatching, intelligent, birding, bluejays, LESLIE THE BIRD NERD, leslie the bird nerd, leslei the bird nerd, lesley the bird nerd, blue jay facts

Id: CxuY5c60XHw

Length: 6min 19sec (379 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 11 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/laketrout]

1. Interesting and amusing to watch
2. They are an attractive addition to our backyards
3. They may keep nasty insects away
4. Protect smaller birds. Good Jay
5. Ecosystem impact dispersal of seeds