The blue jay is about 30 cm long(9-12 inches) . It is bright blue on top and white to gray on its throat, chest and belly. It has a gray-blue crest on its head and black and white bars on its wings and tail. Its bill, legs and feet are black. It eats fruits, acorns, seeds, nuts, and insects. When a blue jay eats nuts, it holds the nut with its feet and cracks it open with its bill. Blue jays are seed spreaders,and will often bury food to eat later. Some seeds and nuts are never recovered and grow into trees and other plants!
Although they're noisy, none too friendly and most definitely not cooperative when I'm trying to photograph them, the blue jay is still my favourite bird!! Until I started feeding Blue Jays I thought they were a solitary bird, but as the books say they are usally in pairs or flocks....does 5 count as a flock? Blue Jays are well known for their loud shrieks....especially at me when they think I'm too close to the peanuts. It is breathtaking to watch them swoop in, grab a peanut without touching the ground and fly away with it in their beak.
