Bird Directory

Blue Jay Click on picture to hear bird sounds.	Bird Name: Blue Jay
	Field Marks: The brightly colored Blue Jay is larger than a robin. It has white markings on its wings and tail. You will see that it wears a black necklace and has a snowy crest. The beautiful Blue Jay is a very well-known bird.
	Feeder Food: Sunflower seeds, cracked nuts, cracked corn, peanuts, cupped fruit
	Natural Food: Acorns and other nuts, seeds, insects, berries, and anything else it finds
	Behavior: The Blue Jay shrieks to alert other jays that an enemy is near. Other jays will come and join together to attack the enemy. They dive and scream until they are successful in driving off the enemy. Don't get too close to a Blue Jay nest or you may be thought of as an enemy. Blue Jays are among the theives in the bird world. They rob other birds of their eggs and nestlings. They help to plant trees with their habit of burying acorns and beechnuts. Voice: (noisy; harsh) jaay, (liquid) queedle; imitates hawks

Pictures and sounds were reproduced by permission.

Sources:

Alden, Peter and Brian Cassie, National Audubon Society Feild Guide To New England, New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1998.

Dawe, Neil and Karen, The Bird Book, New York: Workman Publishing, 1988.

Elliott, Lang, Know Your Bird Sounds (cassette), Minocqua, WI: NorthWord Press, Inc., 1994.

Forbush, Edward Howe, Birds of Massachusetts, Norwood, Massachusetts: Norwood Press, 1929.

Reed, Chester R., Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1951.

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