Blue Jay Bird

 Birds In Southern Ontario

The Blue Jay 

 

The beautiful and well known blue jay is found in in the eastern parts of North America, especially around the Great Lakes region including right here in southern Ontario, and I must say it is one of the if not the most beautiful birds in Ontario. Its bright blue color, bold markings and large size makes it one of the most recognizable birds in the world and easy to spot if they are found in your area.

In some places Blue Jays stay all year round but they don't have a predictable migration pattern like other migrating birds, Blue Jays can leave after years of staying and head elsewhere for no apparent reason. I found this to be true, years ago Blue Jays were a common sight in my yard, a summer day didn't go by without me seeing or hearing one, then they suddenly disappeared. Years went by before I started seeing them again in my yard, not as often as I used to but for the past couple of years I see and hear one in my yard every now and then. So far this year I spotted a Blue Jay once in my neighbor's yard.

But not everyone is as enthusiastic as me about seeing them in the backyard, Blue Jays are aggressive and scare off other birds so they can have feeders to themselves. They also have been known for stealing eggs and baby birds from nests. Blue Jays are also loud and make a variety of sounds that don't even seem like it is coming from a bird. In fact I thought a sound I was regularly hearing when in my backyard was coming from a rusty old clothesline someone was using. I was totally blown away when I realized it was a blue jay making that sound. Yeah, they may be pretty but their loud noise is no music to the ears.

Blue Jays are also very good at imitating the sound of hawks, and use it to their advantage to scare birds away.

Blue Jays won't hesitate in raiding bird feeders so to keep everyone happy a large feeder can be put out for the Blue Jays and a small one for other birds. Blue jays love sunflower seeds and that is a sure way of attracting them. They also eat acorns and nuts, and will store them for the winter months when food sources become low. Their strong feet allow them to hold an acorn or nut while they peck through the shell with their thick beaks.

 DID YOU KNOW...

Blue Jays are slow flyers

They are very smart, in fact Blue Jays are so smart that they will shake a peanut to see which shell contains the largest peanut or will choose the largest nut by comparing its weight.

They belong to the crow family

They typically choose a mate for life

Both the male and female look the the same, unlike in many other bird species where male and female are quite different in appearance.

Four subspecies are recognized, the "interior Blue Jay", Northern Blue Jay"(this is the one found in Canada and the largest of the Blue Jays), Coastal Blue Jay" and "Florida Blue Jay" (the smallest of the Blue Jays)

 Blue Jay Art

Blue Jays are a favorite subject among bird and wildlife artists, here is some of my digital art of the Blue Jay, available as art prints on various gift products:

Blue Jay In Dogwood Tree

Stylized Blue Jay

Blue Jay Among Sunflowers