Blue Jay: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Garden Birds · day 3 of 7

Five facts

1. Blue jays imitate the calls of local hawks so well that you may not know which bird you're hearing.
2. A blue jay's blue isn't a pigment. Tiny structures inside its feathers play with light. Crush a feather and the blue vanishes.
3. Seeds and nuts like acorns are a blue jay's main food, and it often hides some away to eat later.
4. Most blue jays choose one partner and stay together for life.
5. In 2023, a hybrid of a male blue jay and a female green jay was photographed near San Antonio, Texas. It was nicknamed the "grue jay".

The quiz

1. What do blue jays copy so well that it can be hard to tell the difference?

• The songs of robins
• Human laughter
• The calls of owls
• The cries of local hawks (correct)

They copy the cries of local hawks very well.

2. Where does a blue jay's blue come from?

• The structure of its feathers (correct)
• A blue pigment
• Its diet of berries
• Dust from the soil

The blue comes from tiny structures inside the feathers, not from a pigment.

3. What may a blue jay do with acorns?

• Use them to build its nest
• Hide them to eat later (correct)
• Throw them at predators
• Feed them only to its chicks

Blue jays may hide acorns to eat later.

4. How long do blue jay pairs typically stay together?

• One season
• One year
• For life (correct)
• Until the eggs hatch

Most blue jays stay with one partner for life.

5. What is the blue jay and green jay hybrid nicknamed?

• The grue jay (correct)
• The blue-green jay
• The jay-bird
• The teal jay

The hybrid was given the informal name "grue jay".

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