Blue jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. The common large songbird has a perky crest, and blue, white and black plumage.
Blue jays have a large variety of calls that carry long distances. They stuff food items in a throat pouch to save, and when eatingm hold the seed or nut in their feet and peck it open. A favorite food is acorns. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period. In my yard habitat, I treat them with shell peanuts, but most of their diet is insects and nuts.
Some individual jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter, and migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do. A family has anchored in our neighborhood.
