The Blue Jay - published November 2015

 What a grand fall we’ve been treated to! I don’t remember when the fall colours have been so spectacular or lasted so long. Let’s hope we get a few more days/weeks of colour and warmth before the temperatures drop and nature’s palette turns brown and gray (and then white).
 
Over the past weeks, as I’ve been working in the yard, walking the woods or out mountain biking, I’ve been enjoying seeing Blue Jays. Their brilliant cerulean plumage is  dazzling against a backdrop of bright yellow aspen leaves. 
 
Blue Jays are especially conspicuous at this time of year, when they hang together in flocks that roam the woods, feeding as a group.  They will be readily attracted to backyard bird feeding stations where they will eat a variety of food items, from sunflower seeds to dog food. However, peanuts, either shelled or unshelled, are their favourite feeder fare. I give them peanuts from peanut ring, a clever dispenser which forces the birds to undergo some aerial acrobatics in order to access the delicacies.
 

When you see Blue Jays gorging themselves at the feeder, they aren’t actually eating all the seeds/nuts. They are stuffing the food into expandable throat pouches. With a pouch full of food, they fly off to find spots where they can hide their booty, often in the crack of a tree trunk, under a leaf, or by poking it in the ground. This practice of caching food is like an avian insurance policy; during lean times, the birds can rely on these stored supplies. Armed with amazing memories, jays will return, often weeks or even months later, to the exact spots and retrieve their morsels. Of course, they might forget a few of their hiding spots, so if you see a sunflower growing in an odd place in your yard, chances are it was ‘planted’ there by a Blue Jay.
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