How To Tell Male And Female Blue Jays Apart - Is It Even Possible?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- A question I get a lot is, "How are you able to tell male and female Blue jays apart, what is the difference?". In this video, I explain how!
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I saw one type of these birds in the south of the UK. It stops gave a song and flew away, looking at me. Felt like I was hallucinating as never seen one of these before and in the UK they are rare.
i luv blue jays calls(":
We have a baby blue jay and we can't tell what he or she is can you help us
I found one with a broken wing... Idk what to do...
My bird died today she had a sezer and we buryed her with her favorite stuff
I raised a baby blue may last year. I'm pretty sure she was a female. I just fed her and really never held her much wanted to have her not be used to humane contact. When she could eat by herself and could fly a bit i would let her out and flap her wings the cage she was in was over 6 foot tall 4ft wide when she got away once she was out all night and I was so worried she came back the next morning very hungry so I got her back in the cage better waited until there were a whole bunch of blue jays where she was born and I let her out and she came back one time 4 her favorite food cashews then back again and I think she would come by every once in awhile a squawk I would put your blue jay sounds on for her so she knew what they sounded like and she likes it. I rescued her because a cat was going to eat her. I'm glad I rescued her cuz hopefully it's been a year now she has babies of her own. I'm from Springfield Illinois.
Cheryl Knox Wow, that’s a wonderful thing you did! 😀👍🏼
What a HERO you are! So wonderful you were able to raise the little tyke until she could fly away with others. ♥
Thats great! Im in the same situatiion. Ive been raising an abandoned fledgling jay for couple weeks now....i feed it blueberries from my yard and caterpillars from my crops, as well as crushed nuts.
The jay is starting to jump fly glide right now. Its so friendly and curious. I hope that it can integrate in the wild successfully...I didnt think I would ever care or get attached this much to a bird
That is so awesome. ❤️
Nice comment!
Very well done video! I'm still amazed how you can recognize all your bird friends individually.
Thank you very much.
I find Blue jays to be the easiest to tell apart.
LesleytheBirdNerd I know what you mean, people ask the same to me when I am chilling with birds, lol. Dont have these birds in Sweden what I know.Remind me little of magpies but in a more polute way:). Great video, thank you.
@@LesleytheBirdNerd In my old home area my family and I noticed particularly interesting behavior... My son noticed a Jay come to the birdbath, drop in a twig, peck it to get it fully soaked,allowing a moment.It then plucked the twig from the water and flew right up to its nest. This was in hot, dry weather. Each of us saw this behavior repeatedly. IT looked to me like it kept the stick horizonal as it flew. It perched on the nest , tilting the wet stick !.It looked to us like the young were drinkig the droplets from the tilted stick. WE ARE CONVINCED.What do you think ? Have you ever seen this behavior?. Thanks, Donna. 🐦
@@donnajohnson3334 How interesting, thanks for sharing!
@@donnajohnson3334 Damn! I'm no expert but that seems smart as hell.
4:58 they look like they're about to drop the hottest indie album of the year
Every Blue Jay you called male had blue in the chin area, and the Blue Jay's you called female, had none, or almost no blue in the chin area.
I went back & watched again. I agree, I see it.
Yes, I noticed that too.
Yea I noticed that too
I took notice to that as well 🤓
While all the females except one lacked blue on the chin, at least one of the males also lacked it.
I’m so glad you posted this video. I’ve learned more in a few minutes than I could possibly learn by watching.
It’s so wonderful to see the trust you have with them. I’ve had very few birds Get close enough to me that it shows a small bit of trust. I’ve only been feeding for a few months, watching for a few more.
Your relationship with them is incredible. Thanks so much for the video!
How beautiful they are !!!! Only God could have created something so beautiful!
God is amazing, brilliant, beautiful creatures. Thanks for the upload.
Ha ha, very interesting. Before I knew it was a Bluejay that made the squeeky gate call., I called it the Wash line bird. For when growing up we had an outdoor washline where we would hang out washed clothes to dry, with a pulley at the end of the line. When we would pull the washline through the pulley it made a sound like the Bluejays squeeky gate call. So I called it the Washline bird.
That’s funny! We always called it the “squeaky clothesline” call as well.
I had a clothesline that sounded exactly like it too!!!!!
Blue Jays will dive-bomb anything too near their nest, crying THIEF, THIEF !
We had the round one that you could spin.. Squeek squeeek... As kids we used to hide costume jewelry in the back yard and then dig it up again pretending we found it for the first time. Right next to our wash line spinner. Miss those days. Full of sun and wonder.
i called it the rusty swing!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who names my backyard birds! My husband thinks I'm crazy but I have a Cardinal named Frederick, and his mate Ethel. Another Cardinal named Cassius and his mate Athena. Also have several Blue Jay's but haven't been able to tell the difference between male and female to name them. Awesome video, thank you
It's a bonus that you recognized the correct gender of your birds from early on. We have a four year old crow in our yard (along with his large brood) which I affectionately named Evelyn only to discover much later that he's male. I suppose it'll have to stick as he doesn't answer to anything else. I've even tried Everett...wasn't happenin', lol.
We have a cardinal couple named Jose and Claudia. :)
Fred and Ginger, (cardinals), Fredericka (Squirrel Mom) who used to have tickle fights with her babies, Plumpy(groundhog) who used to lick Doritos bags when she was preggers... She was VERY Angry when I woke up one Saturday and saw all her snack litter spread out in a circle around her front door (main entryway) and took it all to the trash bin..🗑️🚮 Poor Plumpy.😕
So many friends to love. 😃
@@jencameron8124He can be like Evelyn Waugh, (pronounced Eev' lyn) the author. It's an old male name, too. 😉
@@craffte Ah, there ya go...so cool. I've never heard of this version. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks so much for this video, always learning something new...
You are welcome. Thanks so much for watching the video
the male has more blue on his neck. Males tend to be more colorful in bird kingdom
Lol As I watch the video trying to figure out a new young one in my yard.. "Oh it could be a male one, no wait, it's female... wait, that is more male acting, wait, no it's gotta be a female..." :)
Thank you for that interesting Blue Jay info..beautiful photography as well.
you are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome!
Love the blues and your vids are the best!
Please keep it up!
Love and hugs!
i've always loved the blue jay call, as well as the crow caw. i didn't know they had different calls - the male's call is beautiful. you are so lucky to live in the country. and thanks so much for these videos :}
love the crow. over time. they have a bad rap
Blue jays are just about my favorite bird. Thank you for putting out these videos!
Happy Summer today! Lesley, in this video,I understand is a great reference for my enjoyment of the behavior on-going of the blue jay surveys. The female and the male this fall will come visit to feed from my apartment deck for a feast of peanuts. I'll watch for the pleasure, if they will be staying around this part of the winter again. 2022-23 year, summer to autumn. Winter, wondering if the cooked liver protein interests the blue jays, if they will eat it. I'll continue to provide, from the pet store, packaged peanuts unsalted🇨🇦🐣⏳
I remember this bird well, it warns the wildlife that I am hiding somewhere in the forest with my camera. Many shots gone lost. Anyway, I like seeing that creature a lot.
Thanks for all these facts ... some are absolutely new for me.
Well done video. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, they SHOUT ever so loudly in my yard - WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! - telling the (human or feline) dangers they've spied! Precious, I love hearing their shouts of Good Will. Otherwise, they make a tiny "tick" sound with which I actually FOOLED ONE near my window, as he came closer & closer to this phantom BLUEJAY(?) beyond the window-screen, until... he realized what was going on! He did NOT appreciate being fooled LOLL and indignantly flew away. Meanwhile I WAS THRILLED that my "tick-ing" had gotten SO GOOD as to entice him to come very close!
At least one of the Blue Jays in my neighborhood learned to imitate a Cooper's Hawk call. I still remember being caught off guard when I first heard the imitation.
I was outside one day, and I heard the call. I ran into to the house to grab my camera and I ran back out hoping to catch a couple shots of the resident Hawk.
When I got back outside and waited a few minutes, I saw a Blue Jay fly away and I didn't hear the Hawk calls anymore. I then realized that I was fooled hahaha!!
I read that they do that to scare away other birds, especially when there is food involved, but I was amazed to actually witness it in person. The tactic doesn't work though, because all of the usual birds still come to my feeders. It's still fascinating though!
It's incredible just how intelligent they are. I have to admit, I'm still terrible at identifying males from females, but I love your explanation though Lesley!
they also do it to scare squirrels off so they can take their food
In my area, it is the broadwinged hawk the jaybirds immitate.
Indeed, birds are shockingly intelligent. They can actually COUNT (in a way) and distinguish between 2, 3, 4 TIMES that they see a stimulus as well as PATTERNS! Find the incredible #STUDY on birds, called: The Bird Brain of Britain.
I have also heard Bluejays mimic hawks. I kept looking for the hawk and finally determined it was a jay.
They imitate Red Tails in MA. They try it a lot but I’ve never seen it work. It doesn’t even fool me anymore. The sound they imitate I only ever hear hawks make when soaring - that classic hawk cry.
You're lucky to have such beautiful birdies around you! They are really sweet!!!💕💕💕💕
Really nice job informing you’ve done! Enjoy even more what the Creator has created for you!
I'm so glad that your videos made their way into my recommend stuff! I hope one day to be able to differentiate between the birds and get them comfortable with me. I'd love to be able to hand feed them! They're starting to recognize that I am the one who brings out the food, so I consider that progress! 😊 Thanks for all your info!!
I have been feeding squirrels for awhile to entertain my kitty cat but a few days ago I had a few blue jays that took the show over. Lol my cat is loving life and the squirrels are old news. I love how they know after I let my dog out what will be waiting for them at the doorstep.
Thank you for this very special and knowledgeable presentation. I so love it. I am watching my blue jays with new information.
Great video !!!Thanks for explaining for us dear Lesley!!! :)
I love learning things about birds and the bluejays are of my favorites birds next to the Alcyone (my profile photo)
Take care of you and your lovely feather friends! Happy autummn, love and greetings from Greece !!! :) ♥
Yianna P.
Something not mentioned that I saw is the males have a darker and more prominent blue band above their black line on their throat. So just above that blue stripe, all the males seemed to have a bigger and brighter blue fluff.
Thank you for this video. I just befriended a Blue Jay yesterday, in my backyard. Today, he brought a date. I realized one was male and the other female thanks to your video. I also named my male Blue Jay, Blue. Haven't named the female yet....
Thank you again.
My daughter and I were hanging out laundry this morning and the Blue Jays were in our tree calling each other. We decided to learn more and found your video. Thank you!
I appreciate the purity of heart of this whole thing. It warmed my heart, for sure!
Story time.. I’ve recently given lots of my attention to watching/photographing my backyard birds. I’ve especially enjoyed the Blue Jay’s (if you can’t tell). Thank you for a great & informative video!
You are such an angel to care for and love these birds.
THANK YOU FOR THIS! I have tons of blue jays in my backyard there's probably at least 10 that I know of I love them they're very friendly and come very close. 💙💙💙
Amazing how they'll eat out of your hand! That must have taken a long time to get them to trust you that much.
I moved house, and now I miss my Bluejays after all my hard work getting them to eat from my hand.
Fortunately, there are some Crows around at my new place and the neighbour has been feeding them for a while. They are getting to know me, and tend to gather when they see my car pull into the driveway. They are ALWAYS watching what I am up to. Lol
I believe that. The crows I feed know my car too. They perch in the birch tree outside my house an watch me. So funny. Crows are awesome.
i love crows and, as you must know, they are very, very smart. so glad you have new friends :}
Crows are awesome and yes very smart. I feed the crows also. It’s hard not to give them a little something to snack on. They like peanuts.
My husband and I bought some peanuts for our squirrels this year and we noticed that the Blue Jays ate them and loved them more than our squirrels did! You are so blessed to be able to and feed birds! How awesome is that! And it's amazing that you can tell them apart and have given them names!
I kept my dogs food dish outside, and a jay would come and steal dog food every morning. He acted so bold and boisterous.
I love Blue jays, and everything about them. They're my favorite bird.
Hazelnuts for squirrels
We should take a hint from the blue Jays as far as sharing parent responsibility! I like how the dad feeds them, and basically changes their metaphorical diaper by keeping the nest clean! That's amazing.
So glad I found this channel. I love learning about my own birdies! 🐦 Quick question; I don't have many trees close to my house besides the big oak tree in front, which is the hot spot, and a bunch of old evergreens (I believe, big fat Christmas tree thats 25 feet tall) that are due to die soon unfortunately thanks to bag worms. And a small mulberry bush area in the back. The woods around us is where they mostly live (very country-like here) but I wonder what else I can provide for them. Maybe plant bushes? Or more trees? We had gotten this Melissa and Doug birdhouse for my daughter to paint and we put it up in a couple spots but so far no takers on it yet. Maybe because it wasn't any higher than about 7 foot? Do they need to be high up? I still have so much to learn! I need a video on all of this! 😆
I’ve just recently started watching. I love your calm demeanor and amazing videos. I thought I knew quite a lot about common birds, but I’ve learned sooo much! Beautiful, interesting videos. Thank you, Lesley! 🐦❤️
They're very beautiful birds.
Great video. 😍 Love jays.
Easy to tell which one is the male in Toronto. The one playing baseball is the male Toronto Blue Jay.
EXCELLENT video. Thank you so much for posting it. I love birds, and my favorite ones are the Blue Jay, Cardinal, Phainopepla (Black Cardinal) and Cockatiel.
Oh this is so lovely! First saw on on Google search: trying to watercolour a bluebird flying and was so frustrated with the (what looks like) "dots" on some wings and stripes on others. (They're stripes, but ...not? 😩 ) Well, this video caught my interest! My mother's and neighbors shooed away blue jays because they want other birds in their yard (and they also do the adding ducklings to public ponds and so forth). *But I loved blue jays!* I've never seen so many together, and that one, Abby, is just a BIG PUFF OF WHITE CUTENESS!
(I don't know what their lifespans are so let me think they live 80 years and Abby's just gotten more puffy and adorbs since this video was made!)
Subbed, and can't wait to figure out how to get birds to my home now! Summer 2021, mid-Atlantic, huge maple tree dominates the yard now (it's got to get trimmed now: branches nearing the pool!) but there's a little river dividing our property with lots of trees and paths; few snakes. We mostly see black birds (which is fine), but I know little about birds. Learning watercolour is increasing my knowledge of lots of things! (I still don't get the round spots on blue jays' feathers though. Baffling!)
Excellent video, my wife and I have gained substantial knowledge from watching your videos. Thanks for making them and yes, I’m now a subscriber.
Thank you Leslie this was a wonderful video and really help me since here on the south shore of Long Island we have a Lotta bluejays in our feeders!! I wonderful new year to you and I hope your holidays were great!🙏🏻👍🏻💚👌💚❤️❤️💚💚❤️❤️💚💜💙💙💙
I grew up in New Jersey, and was stationed several places with Navy along the Atlantic coast before getting stationed in the Pacific NW in the fall of '92, and have stayed here since getting out. No regrets - I've always wanted to get out here. But there are several things I miss from back there. The autumn colors, thunderstorms (extremely rare here in the Willamette Valley), the warm Gulf Stream in contrast to the cold saltwater we get from Alaska. I certainly don't miss the east coast summer humidity. Also the east had wonderful spring/fall days with the high temps in the mid-60s to mid-70s. Out here there is very little transition from the hot and dry summer, to the cooler and chronically wet rest of the year. Birds I do miss - Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays, particularly against a snowy background, and I miss hearing Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Thank you for your wonderful informative videos, keep them coming and God bless!
Orlando, Florida. Just have two Bluejays arrive for striped sunflower seeds. Will now try to ID male n female. Great video, Thank you!
Wonderful and informative. I’m interested in understanding the dynamics of what I’m seeing in my backyard. It’s July 16, 2023, and there must be at least 6-8 blue jays (if not more) that come to my patio for shelled peanuts when I throw them onto the ground.
I don’t know how many families I’m looking at, who’s a parent, who’s a young’n. I often hear what I’ve thought are the sounds of young blue jays crying to be fed and fluffing or shaking their feathers. Most of these young birds seem capable of feeding themselves, s as they are sitting on branches and flying around quite well. They are fully shaped and feathered, though many definitely have a look of being new to the world.
If they were fully mature, I would imagine I wouldn’t see as many at one time, and that there might be more aggressiveness. Can you help to explain how blue jays breed in the spring, how many times they give birth or whether multiple families get along together and fly and feed together? It’s all fascinating.
What really astounds me is how you are able to identify them the way you have. They rarely seem to stay in one place long enough for me to be able to really identify them.
I would love to see you do a video on Stellar's Jays!! Out here in NW Washington State, we love our birds: Western Tanagers, Grosbeaks, Red breasted Sapsuckers, Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans,
Peregrine Falcons and don't get me started on our flying precious gems, the Rufous and the Anna's Hummingbirds!! So it would be so grand to see a show on our Stellar's, and I am sure you will fall in love with the rest!!! Thanks for your great content and for your great compassion for birds that moves you to educate people of all ages about our precious bird families. 🙏 Namaste
My Blues Jays call me to come outside and feed them peanuts. They take their places on the wire or in the tree and wait for me to toss a peanut. When it lands they will dive-bomb and grab it - sometimes they will fly away with a "thankyou" and sometimes they will go right back into the tree and eat it where I can see him and he can see me. One of these days I will make a video...
I learned a lot about the Beautiful Blue Jay from you. Thank you for the Educational opportunity.
I haven't seen a BLUEJAY ALL YEAR HERE IN CONNECTICUT, THIS IS VERY STRANGE..... I LIVED HERE 60 YEARS, AND FEED THEM EVERY YEAR.......
They are in NJ but birds are being slaughtered all over the world. Tall buildings and lights and feral cats. 2.5 billion gone in 40 years. Something must be done.
One time we rescued and raised a baby blue jay only because it was in immediate predator peril (neighbor's cat). We heard the mom screeching and saw the cat stalking around the tree. We tried to chase the cat off but it wasn't giving up. We picked up the baby who really didn't have any adult feathers yet.
After consulting our local wildlife rescue center we learned that jays and robins often get out of the nest a bit too early. They told us we should leave it on the ground because the parents will still feed it.
But because of the local cat and the vet said it was too early since it didn't have any adult feathers yet, we ended up hand raising the baby.
A couple weeks later on a return check up to the vet, we accidentally discovered we could teach it to fly by riding it in the passenger side of the car.
It instinctively began flapping its wings every time the car started rolling out from a stop sign. So we rode around the neighborhood streets getting it exercising its wings until it could fly.
Funny and fun.
At 8, my dad rescued an injury basset hound that had been struck by a car and left for dead on the roadside. We eventually found the owner and reunited him after 8 months.
When I was 10 we rescued a baby mockingbird.
At 9, we caught a box terrapin who we made a pet of and he literally hibernated under our porch for several years.
At 12, I rescued a soul surviving kitten, from a litter that some meany threw over the bridge in a sack into the reek that bordered our property. He became my pet.
At 15, I rescued the only surviving pup in a litter who were evidently just dumped-off in the woods on our land ... we never located the mother. The pup didn't live long from injuries from the abandonment.
At 18 I rescued an abandoned shepherd mix that my mom later made me give up before I went to college.
At 23 I rescued a kitten left abandoned by a neighbor who moved away. He became my pet.
At 28, I rescued the blue jay.
At 34 I rescued a grown Robin who literally flew into the tree trunk in my garden right when I was there working. It was unconscious about 5 hours. It took about 48 hours for it to resume to flying and return to the wild.
At 37, i rescued an escaped/ lost blue parakeet. Oddly my husband had been trying to lure him down from the oak tree with pieces of oranges. But as soon as a arrived home and walked onto the deck he just flew down beside me and let me pick him up. We couldn't locate his owners, but either the excitement of being outside or he ate something wrong, because he croaked 2 days later.
When we went to the pet store to get a cage and food until we could reunite him, we bought Coco - a snowy white female parakeet and brought her home. The blue parakeet was a male because he immediately started courting behavior.
42 we rescued goldfish from the 7th grade science teacher who had told my daughter's class she was throwing them away.
We bought a hampster that had 9 babies !!!
At 48 i rescued a nest of 6 baby rabbits that we fed until we could release at a community park.
My grandson and I rescued a beta fish in 2019.
Which doesn't count all the pets I've had from rabbits to cats to dogs to parakeets and dogs and hamsters and fish and geckos
and a long long list of critters and insects I've temporarily captured and rereleased to the wild (skinks, salamanders, lizards, frogs, turtles, walking stick bugs, ladybugs, stink bugs, wheel bugs, butterflies, luna moths, sphinx moths, hummingbird moths, grasshoppers, giant millipedes, earthworms, praying mantises, grape beetles, and of course lightning bugs!!
And the plethora of birds I've learned to attract to my garden...
Sparrows, wrens, chicadees, northern chicadees, titmouses, nuthatches, jays, purple finches, yellow finches, cardinals, robins, mockingbirds, swallows, juncos, martins, red wing blackbirds, brewers blackbirds, cowbirds, hummingbirds, morning doves...
Deer and rabbits and chipmunks are pleasing visitors.
Of course starlings and crows squirrels, opossums are unintentional visitors.
And we see owls, falcons, red tail hawks and occasionally a bald eagle as we live close to a large river.
When I was a child i recall hearing bob whites on summer evenings.
Really am enjoying your channel and your talks as a beginning birder. I place my bird food on my deck railing right outside my sliding glass door. My house is kind of a big birdhouse as It’s on stilts 9’ in the air. I live in the deep eastern mountains of WV in a very unpopulated wilderness place called Pocahontas County, only 8500 people live here. We are mostly made up of state and National Forest so birdlife here is abundant.
I love my Jays and really enjoy their personalities. Today I have Jays, Mourning Doves, Grackkes, Cardinals and occasional Spartows, Chipping and White Throated. Yesterday a Black Capped Chickadee too.
We have quite a few woodpeckers here also and I have a pair (seem to be at least) of Red-bellied woodpeckers, Malanerpes I think you call them. They like to hang on the side of the railing and get seeds but often will stand on top too. I have two observation though I would hope you can comment on as I haven’t found an answer in any research I’ve looked at yet. The Jays hop in their movement but the Grackles which I think are really a blackbird, actually walk, like the Doves do. Any comment on that? Plus I have seen that when two or more Grackles are feeding and one wants to assert itself it holds its head almost straight up and fluffs out its breast feathers to make itself big. Oh and one more thing. The Jays will often flutter their wings when or after they land.
I have the same two Dove all the time as they nested beneath my house, had two chicks and have very nicely stayed in the area. Sorry this is a bit of a long comment but as a beginner I having fun observing and learning about all my winged friends. Thank You.
Great video! Thanks so much for doing this work. I and my granddaughter really enjoyed it.
Can you see the missing feather patch that only female jays have to keep eggs and babies warm? I was just wondering because I have about 10 plus babies that I feed and wondered if that was a small way you could tell apart? Thanks for your amazing videos. I too love my blue blues...🕊🦅🐦
Thank you. I was noticing that one blue jay has more blue around his/her neck area. Might that be a difference in delineating the two sexes? Also I have another question: Do you Blue Jays calls sometimes sound like a hawk call sound I’ve noticed on a couple of occasions in my backyard when the two Blue Jays that come in Mallard are there one seems to make that sound I’m not sure it’s the Bluejay but they’ve always been there when I’ve heard that sound…!?
I’m super late on this video, but I find this very very helpful as I have at least 15 blue jays in my yard at one time. I have a question that maybe you can help with. Through research I read that female jays appear to have more gray coloring (which is very hard to tell unless very close) and their “Mohawks” aren’t as big. If this information is false, I would greatly appreciate the correction. I’m pretty sure I have identified at least one female based on her rattle call as they have began to recognize and trust me. Any help is appreciated!
Wonderful video and I am so impressed with your ability to get these very shy birds to both tolerate your close presence and even eat out of your hand. Which brings me to my question. Years ago while canoeing the Allagash river in early October a friend and I encountered a pair of gray jays which I believe are closely related to the blue jay. We couldn't believe how radically different the gray jay's toleration of human presence was from that of the blue jay. Within minutes of their arrival one of these incredibly bold birds was eating sunflower seeds out of my friend's hand. Totally caught up in photographing this I completely forgot that I had a frying pan full of eggs sitting over our campfire. Suddenly my friend yelled "Look at the eggs!" Thinking he was worried that they might burn I ignored him at first (burnt eggs seemed a small price to pay for great photos of a gray jay) but I eventually turned and looked at the frypan full of eggs. To my amazement the second gray jay was literally perched on the hot rim of the frypan eating the eggs! This sort of behavior was of course the reason that lumberjack's nickname for gray jays was Camp Robber! Several years after this I was hiking Mount Kathadin in northern Maine and came upon a young couple who were delighted to have a gray jay literally land on the wife's shoulder, where he remained perched as she hiked along the trail. My question is given their close relationship why would gray jays be so much more tolerant of human presence?
Thank you. Ive recently noticed a couple (2pretty sure...) bluejays visiting my yard. I feed sparrows daily and im guessing the 2 jays like certain seeds. I try to leave them peanuts and they come alot now. Ive been using some references and this is a big help. Thanks
Thank you Lesley the bird nerd. I enjoy your videos & the descriptions, that you give.
What an amazing video.
Well done indeed.
I'm relatively new to bird watching.
I placed feeders in my garden about one year ago, close but not too close to my windows. I've been able to identify so many 'visitors' to my garden since then. It is truly amazing. Many Blue Jays visit my feeders, although it took a while for them to start 'visiting'. Now i see and hear them in the trees waiting for feeding time. How do you befriend these beautiful birds as seen in your video?
Came upon a trio, 2 males and a female (just learned that from your great video), in Manhattan’s Central Park early Spring. Could it be some kind of rivalry triangle - intruder on the left and couple on the right. The female seems to wait for the male on the right before giving her rattle. Apart from behavior issues, I just found the three musically hilarious!
www.dropbox.com/s/p0qdv2gxcawnxjz/BluejayTrio_CentralParkNYC.mov?dl=0
Very interesting, thank you! Your bird friends appear very loyal.
Such a wonderful video! With our scrubs, the rattle is a response to the mate's (male's) J-J-J call. Same head bob. Is there anything as joyful as that? The scrub male does not have a distinct call that I've noticed, except they are more prone to chattering (series of grunts). I sure love the blue male's call. And absolutely, gender difference has nothing to do with aggression! Both genders are all over the map on that.
Thank you for this! I have been enjoying the company of first one blue jay, the next year two and now 3-7 but mostly 3.. I didn;t like blue jays.. until they kept coming to my patio. One had a very distinct look.. they call for me to feed them, they are aware when i walk outside and they hear me inside.. when am at the window. it has been so fascinating.. Now i really love them.. i have watched them and photographed them for the past 5 years..
I have been feeding bluebirds peanuts in the shell (raw) for over 14 years now and love them dearly. Thanks for your postings, I do appreciate them greatly and learn from them. What else is good to feed them?
How do you tell each individual Jay apart? Not just male from female. Are they all marked different? Great video!
LESLEY. What do you know about scrub jays? There seems to be some similarities between scrubs and blue jays, such as the female rattle call .
It's amazing how they eat from your hand! 🥰 Btw are their eyes exactly same? For example in juvenile starlings and some parrots you can make the difference between sexes looking at their eyes.
I am very glad I ran acrossed your video. We have a blue Jay nest right outside our bathroom window. They just had babies. I didn't know which one was the mom or dad. I am hoping I can tell now. Thank you.
Got into backyard birding this summer, filming them as well, and I was wondering how to tell male and female Blue Jays apart. Next time I'm filming I'll pay closer attention to the calls they make (rattling vs squeaking) as they come down to the feeders and bird bath from the trees close by. Just this last week I was startled to see one (now a frequent visitor to the suet feeder) with hardly any head plumage. Thought it was diseased at first until I read that molting is normal.
Thank you for making this video! I've got 4 Jays that are hunkering down the midwest winter.
I never knew this! I believe I have a pair in my yard since I see too following each other into go to the backyard! Also great names for each of them:)
Thank you
Glad you liked the names
LesleytheBirdNerd yup! really fits them:)
Your videos make me happy! Always fun and informative . . . Thanks very much
Thank you for all your videos. I find them a great source of info.
We have a bunch of blue jays from all over the neighborhood that come to see us. They come for the peanuts and bird seed. One just got his name changed from "Biggie" to "Hero". He got the old name because he was always being loud and tricking the other birds into thinking danger was close. But the other day, there was real danger in the form of a hawk swooping down on one of our squirrel buddies. Not only did Hero shout out of the danger, he literally swooped in and distracted the hawk from grabbing the squirrel and then made a fast get away. I also have one I named "Wiggles" because when comes to the tree to see us she wiggles her whole body and when I say. "Is that wiggles?" she wiggles more." She's a treat.
I have some how managed to have 5 crows, and 5 blue Jays. They have visited me every morning for 3 years now. Amazing birds! The crows always alert me when the fox or eagles are about. I've seen some pretty odd and hilarious behavior from both species 😅
Great video 👍🏻
Thank you,so much! Have so many blue Jays in my yard! I have food out all year long for anything hungry! Love all!
I spend a fair of time with Jays observing them and have never seen one catch food in the air like the peanuts you toss. Great footage of that.
Excellent info. Hard to have a favorite but it’s probably jays.
Hi Lesley. I purchased a peanut ring and have been enjoying watching the jays and woodpeckers taking advantage of the treat. I tried putting peanuts on the ground, but the chipmonks usually got to them before the jays, but the jays have started looking for nuts earlier and getting to them before the chippers. Just another indication that the bluejays are smart, right?
My favorite jay species 💙
I wish they were here in CA .. I think though I’ll be able to use many of these tips to tell the difference between the male and female Western Scrub jays that are out here
TY Lesley for the video. I have always been told that females are less colorful the males, I have seen Jay's here that have vivid blue and some that are almost in the light blue to grey family. So I was under the impression that vivid blues were male and the other colors female. TY once again for the education.
I have a mated blue jay pair that visits when I feed the neighborhood squirrels. I haven't figured out the genders just yet, but how I know the difference is that one has a bit more white to their tail tip than the other and the one with more blue on their tail has more defined black stripes with it. They are very picky which is funny to watch, but so far they seem ok to share with the squirrels and even a redheaded woodpecker that lives nearby. Thanks so much for all this info on them ^^
so excited we have bluejays that have decided to live in our yard. We live in Florida so the weather is already in the upper 80's during the day even though the nights can still get down in the 60's. It appears that a nest is being built in one of our large crepe myrtles which is already getting its new leaves. Now if only the cardinals which swoop in now and again to grab a snack would decide to stay hoping
Thanks. I have a pair who visits me me often, usually in the Spring and Summer. I notice that not only do they eat the bird seed, but they also eat the corn that I put out for the Squirrels in an attempt to keep the squirrels from the seeds. Nevertheless, I have never noticed the grey around the breast/chest areas on my visitors as I have noticed on yours. Does that have to do with the area in which you live or have I just not noticed since I see them against the black arbors usually?
I really like mourning doves. I'ld like to know all you know about them
I'm new to this and it has been very enjoyable.thank you.
Thanks for sharing what you've learned about the wonderful Blue Jays our Creator has given us. Very informative you were. Now I know how to tell the difference, which I've tried to know through casual observation for years. Distinct calls; size; food offerings; which one only sits on the nest and the last one I had figured out on my own, which is a number of males will give pursuit to a female. Thanks again
Love your videos Lesley. We have a tribe of Blue Jays hanging around our yard this year eating out of our feeders and using the bird bath ... which they love. They can be annoyingly noisy first thing in the morning but we get a great deal of enjoyment watching them throughout the day. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you kindly!
And I know what you mean about their "noisiness" I love my guys to bits but I have to admit that there have been a couple rare occasions, in the mornings, that I was annoyed with them too. They pack quite a punch with their calls. I love them though, so I just grin and bear it, lol
I think that you have done a wonderful job on this video. Thank you so much.
I think you have covered it. Thanks for sharing🐦
I used to live in SW Ontario and moved out here to BC 20 years ago, I miss the Blue Jay's in our area. They and the Cardinals were always my favorites to watch. Now I see the rare Stellar Jay but mostly we've been caring for a couple flocks of Chickidees and Nut hatches along with a group of hummingbirds, all facinating to watch but none have the distinctive character of The Blue Jay's.
I hear ya. Those blue jays are something else. Full of character
fantastic info. sqeaky gate. i used to call it rusty swing. like what you do,
I have tons of bluejays in my backyard, I'll have to pay more attention to their behavior... I didn't realize the females look just like the males!! Thank you for this info ❤️
We have three different sizes of Jays here in the Seattle area. The largest one almost as big as a Crow. They all love to come visit when we lay out about 50 peanuts. The fun is watching them pick up a peanut, testing its weight. They will pick up several and then go back to the biggest one pick it up and and fly off. Fun game they play and we enjoy watching!
How do you keep track of birds' identities?
Hello Lesley, thanks for the video! One thing I noticed when you were showing the first pair of blue jays was that at the front of the neck, although they had both had a ring of powdery blue, it seemed as if that male and then most of the others had a more pronounced 'ring'. I was wondering if that is a tell tale sign, or just coincedence?
Great video, clear footage and very informative. Thank you!💙
We have lots of the Stellers jays here (U.S. Pacific Northwest) but no bluejays that I know of. The Stellers are amusing and quirky. I once saw six or seven of them playing leap-frog together on our deck. It was the funniest thing and I was lucky to see it (just once). Those jays are mostly gone now - habitat loss and probably the aggressive crows forced them out.
As for differentiating male from female - don't the females engage in the wing-fluttering behavior that means (I assume) "feed me"?
Stellar's Jays playing leapfrog? Aww, that's cute!
It was freakin' adorable. They all landed on the deck and suddenly they were flying and hopping around all over each other. It didn't last long. I know that crows have been observed to play, so why not other corvids? But I wouldn't have expected something like that. What would it have been other than play? There were no peanuts for them to contend over at that moment. Oh for an instant-on video camera...
Mike Arst yes they do seem to do that more (or only). its a baby bird behavior which makes sense now that i know the male feeds the chicks. maybe it enhances bonding and is a way the male proves his nurturing ability to the female... or she could just want a snack!