Another of Americas' favorite birds

I always get a big laugh and smile when I see your photos and comments, Trois! Don't stop! It's great and always fun!

Marilyn, the one we raised hit the ground right in front of our living room windows as we were watching a severe thunderstorm. It was still in it's nest. The parents were frantic. I ran out and grabbed it, got a few pecks from the parents, brought it in the house, got it dry and placed it in a window station we had for our Conure. The parents hung around the window a while, the baby begging them for help.

We were hand feeding some budgies at the time, so in few minutes DW brought in the next tray of food that we fed with syringes (no needle). She poked a full one at the Jay, he opened his mouth, she pushed the plunger. Instant full Jay. He then turned around, dismissing his parents and never looked at them again. At the next feeding session in a couple of hours he was waiting, and when DW brought out a syringe of food, he flew across the room and did a mid-air feeding. 3 feathers on each wing. He lived in the house for the next 3 years until he became sexually mature and we were able to get him to leave home. He always pooped in a special box, never on anyone or other things. Very great fun. He learned to talk very well, better than any of our parrots. We hated to see him go, but he found a girlfriend and left with her, after a long courtship.

Trois,

Wonderful and great story! Thanks for sharing it!

I love the birdcam and the expressions you capture! So much fun!

Thanks, and I agree, Jays are a lot of fun.

Nice shots everyone....I'm putting on a few more I took this morning.

2nd shot.

Breakfast time!

They do love their breakfast. Great shots!

Nice pics everyone. Trois I love the sunbathing pic.

trois - Are you serious about your jay "talking"? I find that absolutely fascinating!

GREAT photos, storys, and captions everyone! This is a great thread! :-)

Wow, I'm in awe Trois! What a great story and pictures! have you ever thought about putting some together in a book? I'd buy it!

I shared my home with a blue jay, too... lol
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/595507/

Awww, what a great series of pics and story Magpied. What happened to your blue jay? I love the photo of her on her eggs begging you for food. I'm sure that kept you busy lol.

pelletory, this Jay was at our window feeder frequently, and every time the sun popped out, it spread.
Becky, this Jay didn't know what he was saying, as parrots frequently do, but the speach was loud and crystal clear. Visitors would always say "who is that in there?' I am not able to recall any thing specific he said, just how real it sounded.

lily, I have thought about a book, but I am to lazy to do it. I have over a thousand good quality bird pics but not many good stories.

Magpied, I can relate. He was especially fond of dried corn, yellow only. 20 years later we still find corn stuffed into things. The biggest difference is that we potty trained just about all our birds, and the Jay quickly learned where to go.
There was a picture holder on the wall that was empty so he slept on that with his head under his wing. It looked like a mounted Jay with it's head inside the wall.
He had a drinking glass for his water. I had taken it to wash it, brought it back, and forgot to fill it. The Jay did a loud whistle to get my attention, then he pecked the empty bottom to show me it was empty. After a couple of these pecks, he became distracted by something, and then I filled his glass to the top. In a couple of minutes he returned an pecked the bottom of the glass again, only this time it was full. With his head still at the bottom, he glared at me throuhg the water, as I was laughing. He immediatly put a couple of knots on my head, teaching me a lesson.
We kept him in an outside aviary for a long time, with a daytime opening for him to use. He tried for months to get her to enter the free food zone with him, but in the end she convinced him to leave with her. He would feed her through the opening. We never saw him again.

"My" blue jay is back in Houston with the woman who raised her.

Trois, awwww. I know exactly what you are talkin' about with finding things. Here, it's pieces of pecans, petrified brownie bits, tiny little shells, rubber remote control buttons, also *corn* :) ...and a lot more "stuff", too. My blue jay loved her corn frozen. (I don't get it either!) It had to be frozen kernels (same with peas). If it thawed, it got cached. I KNOW *that* whistle, too... lol. She did a "bob and whistle" routine as well. Gotta love that pecking!!! They let us know when they don't like something--or when something's amiss, don't they? Boy, that is a sad ending to me--for you, I mean. It doesn't bode well that you never saw the blue jay again--unless he was really *wild* by the time it left. Let's just hope he lived happily ever after.

My magpie imitated human speech. She said "honey" with inflections that seemed appropriate for each circumstance. She also flawlessly imitated sneezing, coughing, laughing... God I miss her. Have you raised any other wild birds, Trois?

One other Jay. Not nearly as interesting as the first. We have raised lots of parrots, macaws and so forth.

This message was edited Jan 6, 2007 7:29 AM

Magpied,

I read your other thread you posted the link to and it was wonderful! Thanks for sharing the story and photos! Very funny and heartwarming!

Interesting to read that you had cats while you had birds. Didn't you worry about the cat killing the birds?

What's the update on the Blue Jay from the person in TX since you took the Jay there?

Marilyn

Trois the water glass story is just to funny.

DonnaB, I was laughing even as I was being punished.

Thanks you to Trois or linthicum!! Whoever mentioned the idea of setting your camera to take multiple fast shots... I tried it this morning and loved the results! I got lots of blurries but there were some interesting ones too!

OMG - look at greedy guts. I better bone up on the heimlich maneuver lol!

back again to check for the best goodies

I have tried the fast multiple shots, but then you can't use fill flash. I prefer the fill flash. If I was more than 8 feet from camera to bird, multi fast frames.

Very good shots. They just hold it in their crops, bring it up later to render smaller pieces to swallow. Sometimes my handfeeding Jay holds down the food with one foot and hammers it into small pieces on my thumb. He has never missed and hit me.

I also get a kick out of the blue jays checking the peanuts for a "good" one.

I always put out peanuts for the squirrels & jays. While the squirrels bury them in my pots & planters - and forget about them (I'm always finding peanuts when I start planting in the spring); the blue jays know exactly what they are doing.

I was watching a blue jay taking a peanuts & flying off with them. Soon he'd be back, get another and fly off. Every time he came back, he'd always pick up/put down a peanut, like he was testing its weight. When he'd find one to his liking, off he'd go with it.
Well, one day he selected a peanut and was about to fly off when another one caught his eye. He put the first one down & checked out the 2nd. Apparently the 2nd peanut was a good one for him as well. Not wanting to lose out on either, he took the 2nd & tucked it between some bricks that were stacked nearby. Then he took off with the first peanut. A few moments later he came back and went directly to the bricks where he had hidden the other peanut! He knew exactly where he had put it! He grabbed it & flew off again.
I was amazed watching that. "Smart bird!" I thought. Then he did something that surprised me even more.
He came back and selected his next peanut. Again, he spotted another that he liked. This time, instead of hiding it, he placed the 2 peanuts side by side & appeared to be comparing them. He picked up one & turned it around placed it right next to the other. Then using his foot, he rolled one a little bit. checking again, he picked it up and placed it directly against the other so they fit together, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle! He was then able to pick up BOTH peanuts at once! Off he went with two peanuts!
I was REALLY amazed at that sight. Especially after watching him actually rolling the peanut to see how they would fit together. He was really studying the shapes of the two.
I never saw anything like that before. I wish I had it on film.

Nancy

This message was edited Jan 6, 2007 11:19 AM

This message was edited Jan 6, 2007 11:20 AM

thanks for this thread! I miss the blue jays. we had them at our old house but haven't seen any since we moved here. I'm hoping to attract them to my feeders. Looks like peanuts are the answer LOL

gram

They are very smart birds. Pecan halves are very big with them, followed by almond slivers.
Dr. Glodman just uses peanuts. Sunflower seeds sre 4th on the list because they have to shell themselves.

Trois,

I also loved your story of the Blue Jay looking at you through the glass of water. Too funny!!!

Thanks for sharing!

Marilyn

I've been outside pruning some stuff this morning and due to the peanuts, there are lots of blue jays hanging around. Then I thought i would ask you all this... do your blue jays ever sound like chimpanzees? I swear these do! Its not their alarm cry but more like their chatting noise.

gabagoo, I love the description of your blue jay being a "critical shopper". That description fits my grandmother to a tee! She was embarrasing to be with in the produce section of the supermarket lol!

It is a bright memory for me.

They can sound like anything they want to.

Lilyfan,

Love your photos and comments with each one! Too funny!

Marilyn

Nancy,

Love your story about the Blue Jays!

Interesting and fun to watch them!

Thanks for sharing.

Marilyn

You know, I wonder if birds have regional dialects like people do?

Yep, they do ( :>

Wow really?!

It makes sense that the sounds they make would vary with their environment.

Lilyfantn. I know the sound you are thinking of, and have heard it. It seems to me they usually make that sound when there are lots of them around., maybe it's a social thing.

The Florida Scrub Jay is a isolated subspecies of the Western Scrub Jay. Some people want to make it Florida's State Bird, instead of the present Mockingbird. Unfortunately they will probably go extinct before that happens. They live in a very specialized dry, scrub habitat, which unfortunately is also ideal land for building houses. I saw them at the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge near Cape Canaveral. That refuge has the largest remaining population of Scrub Jays. The Florida Scrub Jay is as personable and curious as the Blue Jay. This bird was checking us out, when we were on the Scrub Jay trail.

Wow, he's very pretty! Thanks for sharing the pic.

it is really beautiful bsharf

I am really enjoying all of the Jay photos and the stories. Blue Jays are very close to my heart because they warn me of raptors, cats, etc that are getting too close to my baby ducks. If I hear a few, it may be a "this is my spot" squabble. But, if I hear many (especially if the birds fly from tree to tree), I know it is a "watch out" warning.

Kim