English name : Blue Jay
French name : Geai bleu
Latin name : Cyanocitta cristata
Breadth : 41 cm
Length : 28 cm
Weight : 85 g
A crested blue bird. Black collar on a white or pale background. Strong beak. Long tail. Black and white patches on the wings. Sparrow bird, sometimes observed in groups at birdfeeders. Glides and soars towards the birdfeeders in order to disperse the smaller bird species.
Bird Feeder for the Blue Jay :
HABITAT
Leafy wooded areas or mixed forests.
NESTING
The Blue Jay’s nesting preference is conifers measuring between 3 and 7.6 m from the ground. They occasionally use a nest that is specially adapted to their species. The two (2) sexes build the nest made of twigs, small twigs, moss, grass, lichens, and dead leaves; interior is decorated with rootlets and grass.
Exterior diameter : 17.8 – 20.3 cm Height : 10.2 – 11.4 cm, Interior diameter : 8.9 – 10.2 cm Depth : 6.4 cm.
Eggs, appr. four (4) or five (5) : 28 x 20 mm, oval. The shell is smooth, glossy and particular to two colors, olive or buff; are rarely bluish; marked with small dots or splashes in different tints of brown, sometimes olive and dark brown. Incubation is assured by the female in the month of May and lasts between 17 and 18 days. The male nourishes the female. The young chicks are born altricial. Education of the young is assured by both sexes, but, it is the female that remains with the nest to protect the young. After five (5) days, the eyes open and after the 8th or 9th day, the feathers appear. They are ready to leave the nest approximately 17 to 21 days after hatching. They usually gain independence about 3 weeks later.
FOOD
Seeds, berries, insects, and caterpillars.
Your charter of the preferred food of your birds
MIGRATION
Sedentary.
Cornell Ornithology Lab
Websites for additional information on the Blue Jay :
United States : Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Museum of Civilization : Audubon, Paint, Nature and Adventure
Definition: altricial
Consult the glossary of the Canadian Wildlife and Flora Service
Ornithology page on the Blue Jay