Yes, blue jays do eat sunflower seeds shell and all. They are known to enjoy all types of seeds, nuts, fruits, grains, insects, and even small frogs, lizards, and snakes. Sunflower seeds, in particular, can make up the majority of a blue jay’s diet.
The bird has a specialized bill that helps it break apart the sunflower seed’s hard shell, allowing it to access the nutrient-rich kernel inside. Blue jays have even been known to store up countless sunflower seeds in crevices and bark of trees, ensuring they have a steady source of food during the colder months.
How do Blue Jays eat seeds?
Blue Jays typically eat seeds using a variety of methods. There are four main ways in which they do so: removal, cracking/crushing, stripping, and swallowing whole.
Removal involves removing the seed, along with the fruit or stem it’s attached to, from a plant and flying away to consume it. Jays use this method most commonly when eating from berry plants.
Cracking/crushing is another frequent way Blue Jays eat seeds. Using their beaks, Jays will crack open the seed coatings of nuts, acorns, and other hard-shelled fruits to access the nutrient-rich food inside.
Stripping is a bit different in that the seed coat isn’t broken. Instead, Jays will use their tongues to brush away the outside of the seed and expose the food inside. This method most typically takes place with grasses and other small seeds.
Finally, Jays may choose to simply swallow some seeds whole. While less common, it is still possible and often done with particularly small seeds.
Thus, Blue Jays can eat seeds using a variety of methods, including removal, cracking or crushing the seed coating, stripping away its exterior, or even swallowing them whole.
Where do Blue Jays stash their food?
Blue Jays are highly intelligent birds, and when finding food they often employ a strategy known as ‘caching. ‘ Caching is when a bird stashes food in a safe place either short-term or long-term. In the short-term, a Blue Jay might store food in a crevice in a tree or a bush, often in an area with plenty of cover from predators.
In the long-term, a Blue Jay might store food higher up in the tree, in a nest, or in an area with a denser cover. They may also take food as far away as possible and scatter it in different caches. Blue Jays are also known to exhibit territorial behavior when it comes to caching and protecting their food, warning other birds away with their vocalizations and displaying aggressive body language to keep competitors away from their stashes.
Do Blue Jays store food in their throat?
No, Blue Jays do not store food in their throat. In fact, they swallow their food whole and it passes through the esophagus and enters the proventriculus, which is the first chamber in the bird’s stomach.
The food then moves on to the ventriculus, where it is further broken down and chemical digestion takes place. Some of the food passes on to the gizzard, which is the muscular part of the stomach, and the rest is discharged out of the body.
Blue Jays are known to hoard food items and they often bury them in the ground or in trees. They have a poor short-term memory, so they need to store food in order to be able to find it later when it is needed for nourishment.
What kind of feeder Do Blue Jays use?
Blue Jays typically use a few different types of feeders. The most popular feeders for Blue Jays are platform feeders, hopper feeders, and even suet feeders. Platform feeders are shallow, flat dishes that are filled with all types of seed, grains, and nuts.
They are hung from a high place and allow birds to perch and feed. Hopper feeders are more enclosed, cone-shaped structures and provide a variety of seeds and grains. Finally, suet feeders are caged areas that are filled with small chunks of suet (which is a type of animal fat).
Suet feeders are very popular for Blue Jays, as they are full of energy and provide them with lots of nutrition.
What is a Blue Jays favorite food?
A blue jay’s favorite food is a variety of things, depending on where they live. In general, blue jays eat nuts, fruit, insects, and seeds. They also enjoy eating suet, peanut butter, cracked corn, and sunflower seed.
They tend to select the food they like the most and store it away in hidden crevices for later consumption. Blue jays also enjoy scrounging for food in yards and will eat almost anything they believe is edible like bread, birdseed, and pet food.
In the wild, blue jays will look for high-protein sources such as insects, small mammals, and amphibians. They also scavenge for carrion like roadkill and will venture into suburban and urban parks to search for food items.
Blue jays are also known to catch and store live prey, such as butterflies and grasshoppers. They’ll also steal food from other animals, such as other birds or squirrels, and cache it for later eating.
Do Blue Jays remember where they hide peanuts?
Yes, Blue Jays have an excellent memory and are known to remember where they hide nuts, such as peanuts. In fact, research has found that these birds are able to remember the exact location of where they’ve hidden their snacks weeks or even months after initially hoarding them.
In order to recall where their food is hidden, some scientists believe that Blue Jays rely on physical landmarks such as trees or ground cover objects, as well as the exact temporal order of when the peanuts were initially stored.
What’s more, the birds tend to remember items of higher worth and those that require a great deal of energy to obtain, such as peanuts. Therefore, Blue Jays most likely store peanuts in a memory similar to how humans remember where important items are buried.
What can I feed a wild Blue Jay?
Wild Blue Jays in North America are omnivores and will eat a variety of items. They primarily feed on nuts and seeds, such as sunflower seeds, peanuts, and cracked corn. They will also eat suet, insects, berries, fruit, and grains.
To feed a Blue Jay, you can place bird feeders in your yard that contain a mix of these items. Be sure to clean the feeders regularly to keep them safe and free of disease. You can also offer fresh fruits and vegetables, such as apples, grapes, and cucumbers, directly to the Jays.
This can be done by placing them near the bird feeders. Blue Jays also enjoy mealworms, so you can also buy these from a pet store to offer the blue jays. And don’t forget to provide clean, fresh water so the Blue Jays can bathe and stay hydrated.
Can you befriend Blue Jays?
Yes, it is possible to befriend blue jays. While most people may not think of wild birds as pets, birds are highly intelligent animals and can form intimate and strong relationships with their caretakers.
To build a healthy relationship with a blue jay, you must understand the species’ habits and habitat to give it the best care. Start by providing a proper diet with volume appropriate for the species.
Once you establish a daily feeding routine, you may want to try to earn the trust of blue jays. Provide interaction in the form of speaking softly and carefully offering treats. It may take several months for a blue jay to recognize you as a potential friend, but the bird may begin showing more curiosity, interest and trust.
Although it is not recommended, you may also try holding and petting it. If it seems comfortable, then you’re probably seeing positive progress. Always be mindful of the individual’s response and respect the bird’s boundaries; wild animals will not rapidly become accustomed to human contact and may eventually indicate they would prefer to be left alone.
Is it OK to feed Blue Jays bread?
No, it is not OK to feed Blue Jays bread. Bread is not part of their natural diet and can be unhealthy. Blue Jays, like all wild birds, should be provided with natural foods such as seasonal fruits, nuts, seeds, and insects.
Bread can provide birds with some calories, however it is low in nutrients and contains no beneficial fats or proteins. Feeding bread can also cause health problems such as vitamin deficiency and malnutrition.
Bread can also change the natural behavior of wild birds, disrupting the natural balance of their food sources. Bread is not a suitable substitute for natural food sources, so it is advised to provide Blue Jays with a variety of natural foods that are specifically suited for their diet.
How many sunflower seeds can a blue jay hold?
The exact amount of sunflower seeds that a blue jay can hold depends on the size of the bird. Blue jays are generally larger than their cousin, the American robin, but smaller than a crow. Studies have found that American robins can hold up to 19 sunflower seeds in their throat compartment at any given time.
It is likely that a blue jay can hold more than this, but the exact number is not known. Blue jays commonly cache large amounts of sunflower seeds in the ground and in tree crevices, and so it is possible they can carry more than 19 seeds at once.
Studies of blue jay behavior in the wild suggest that they can carry several seeds at a time and quickly cache them away when they land.