[ad_1]
What does a blue jay eat?
In scientific jargon, the blue jay is known as the station wagon; he has a very wide and varied diet and consumes almost everything he finds. Overall, scientists estimate that about 75% of his diet – and an even larger percentage in winter – consists of plant matter. Fruits, grains, corn, seeds and nuts make up the bulk of his diet. This provides the bird with most of the nutrients and calories it needs.
The most important source of meat is insects: beetles, grasshoppers and caterpillars are common foods. To supplement their diet with more meat, blue jays sometimes hunt rodents, frogs, spiders, and snails if the opportunity ever presents itself. It also occasionally raids bird nests to eat eggs and young. However, the blue jay is not a good hunter and prefers to forage for food or carrion. If he finds a dead carrion killed by an accident or another predator, then he is not afraid to eat it. The exact composition of the diet will vary slightly depending on location and time of year.
How does a blue jay eat?
The evolution of the blue jay is evidence of its plant-rich diet. While tough food will scare off other animals, the blue jay will not be scared. Holding the nut with its legs, the bird opens the outer shell with its long and sharp beak. Blue jay rarely throws something in vain. Often, when he has food left after eating, he temporarily stores the leftover pieces in his vast throat pouch. The blue jay will then bury (or “cover”) the leftover food on its territory for later use; trees, rocks and other crevices provide ample storage space.
Caching is a very common strategy in the animal kingdom. Chipmunks and squirrels also store food. The extent to which blue jays store food in a cache depends on the individual. However, it is believed to play a very important ecological role in the environment. When the blue jay forgets where it hid its food (or simply never returns to it), the seed has the opportunity to grow into a full-fledged plant.
As a member of the crow family, the blue jay is highly intelligent and resourceful. What he cannot make from brute strength, he sometimes makes up for with tricks and deception. The blue jay has the ability to steal food from other birds by scaring them with a sudden and loud cry. When an unsuspecting target drops its food, the blue jay lashes out and grabs it.
In captivity, there have been at least one documented case of blue jays using a tool to forage for food. Scientific research has shown that the bird manipulates a newspaper strip to rake feed pellets from outside its cage. However, it is not entirely clear how many tools are used in the wild.
Where does the blue jay get food?
Blue jays usually have a specific area in which they can feed or hunt during the daytime. Beech and oak are some of their favorite feeding and nesting places. They also enjoy sorting through the bushes in search of small pieces of food they can find. Evidence suggests that they do migrate short distances in winter in search of better food sources.
In the middle of the year, the nesting pair very strictly maintains the territory and aggressively protects it. Both mother and father will feed their voracious chicks for the first few weeks after hatching, until they are ready to leave the nest and get their own food. Young birds tend to stay together and feed with the family, but they must spread out by winter to avoid competition for scarce resources.
How to attract blue jays to the feeder?
The best way to attract them is to place the feeder on the ground or on a pole, ideally next to a tree or shrub. Blue jay loves peanuts, sunflowers, mealworms, corn, and acorns. However, it is a very territorial bird that sometimes monopolizes the feeder for itself. Blue jays like bird baths to care for their feathers, but they generally do not use artificial nests.
The Complete List of the Top 10 Foods That Blue Jay Eats
Here is a list of 10 foods that blue jay prefers. Some of these foods are grouped into broader categories because the blue jay will feed on many species in this group, not just one. While it may not look like it, the diet is heavily biased towards plant foods.
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Grains
- Fruits
- Insects
- Spiders
- Snails
- Rodents
- Frogs
- Eggs
Next: Types of aggressive dogs
[ad_2]
Source link