Bluejays Everywhere!

[Hawg]

I have twice the bluejays around that I've ever seen before. Do these things migrate at all, not all the way south but maybe from Canada or further north to around Minnesota? They absolutely terrorize the other birds at the feeder, scaring them all away. 

Edited October 9, 2018 by Hawg
screwed up!

[smurfy]

really?????? the bluebirds i had this summer left a long time ago.

[Hawg]

1 minute ago, smurfy said:

really?????? the bluebirds i had this summer left a long time ago.

Yup, total brainfrt, I fixed it. 

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Hawg said:

Yup, total brainfrt, I fixed it. 

 

I was going to ask Bluebirds are absolutely terrorize the other birds at the feeder, or BlueJays? 

[chaffmj]

Blue jays are here all year in Ely and yes the other birds don't like them. The gray jays fight with them all the time over food. The smaller birds give way.

[Mike89]

here all year too...

[delcecchi]

I think there are certain times of year that they become more obvious.   They survive winter by caching food in many places, using sticky saliva to keep it stuck.  They are able to remember where they put thousands of food items and go back to them.    Truly amazing birds.   I have enough trouble remembering where I left the tape measure.

[delcecchi]

I put some sunflower seeds on the deck rail today.   The jays would come and swallow like 20 or so, one after the other, and then fly away.  In a short while, a minute or two, they would be back and do it again.   

 

I think the only reason they stopped was when the seeds were gone.   Them, the chickadees, the finches, and the red bellied woodpecker all got some.   They didn't last too long.

[JBMasterAngler]

My blue jays coexist with my other birds fairly well. I do have more of them around in the last few weeks though. I feed them whole shelled peanuts. They pretty much leave everything else alone.

[knoppers]

OK I am now a fan of blue jays. had a woodpecker, a larger one, not the downy on my house, it pecked a few times, I pounded on the wall it flew off into the tree, as I watched it through the window, it landed on the side of the garage ready to go to business, and a blue jay flew at it and chased it off, it happened two times, then the woodpecker flew off.

I also had a blue jay chase off bees, they made a paper nest on my eaves in one day, I watched a blue jay land on it, and jump around, the bees would come out, the jay would fly off. then the jay repeated this numerous times until the nest fell off, bees left.

Edited October 14, 2018 by knoppers

[eyeguy 54]

I have always liked the blue jays also. SO much food here they all get along pretty well. 

[knoppers]

yea they eat up the acorns. I have soo many acorns, the tree rats cannot put a dent in them.

[Hawg]

Just counted 14 of them under and on my feeder. Cardinals, Nuthatches, Juncos, and asst sparrows came in and they chased them all away. It's like one stands guard and chase everything off. Sorry guys, time has come to start thinning the blue rats out! 

Edited October 15, 2018 by Hawg

[chaffmj]

To you people that have nice blue jays and like them I'm happy for you. For me they rank right up there with red squirrels and those things that have their own thread going called horrible people!

[eyeguy 54]

lol. my brother hates them also cuz they thow a robin chick out of the nest sometimes. Only a couple here, if i had too my they would meet my 17 pellet. Red squirrels get a pass. not enough here. Grays are a different story. 

[delcecchi]

Blue Jays don't chew holes in my soffit

But I only have a couple and they don't seem to bother the other birds.   One reason might be that they are too big to sit on the perches on the feeders, so they get to scratch for spillage.