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Your fancy name forest bird jay received from the form of the Old Russian verb, akin to the modern "shine", for bright feathers and a lively disposition. Black-blue, blue and white spots, or mirrors, adorn the jay, the size of which does not exceed 40 cm with a tail.
The weight of an adult is about 200 grams. The body has an even beige color, and the wings are full of different colors. The paws are brown, the feathers on the breast are light. The appearance of a raised cute tuft on the head signals an alarmed state. birds.blue jay especially elegant among other species, thanks to the bright plumage on the back and the blue crest on the head.
The blue jay is distinguished by its plumage and tufted head
The jay is distinguished by a strong beak with small sharp edges, adapted for splitting acorns, nuts and hard fruits. Such a shining bird can be found in a vast area of forests in Europe, North America and Asia.
The nature and lifestyle of the jay
Jay is a forest inhabitant of all types of copses, old parks, deciduous and coniferous thickets. A special preference for the bird is oak groves. Her restless and cautious nature made her a danger signaler for all other inhabitants of the forest.
A sensitive jay sees and hears everything the very first. With sharp cries of “rah-rrah-rrah”, warning the appearance of a person or a large predator, she will warn the inhabitants and will accompany the movement of a dangerous object like a real forest watchman.
Pictured is a Yucatan jay
The Mockingbird is called a beauty for her talent to imitate other voices and sounds. If in the wilderness of a remote forest you suddenly hear the meowing of a domestic kitten or the bleating of a goat, then this is a sign of a jay that has “returned from the guests” and visited human settlements.
Hardly anyone manages to see the jay itself, but you can immediately hear and recognize the presence by sharp unpleasant sounds. The shy one moves quickly, only a glimpse of the blue feathers of beautiful wings is seen between the branches of the trees.
Maneuverable flight, although not fast, but in rapid alternations of strokes and gliding, is very convenient for moving over short distances. The jay descends little to the ground, moves with frequent jumps, usually keeps in the middle and upper forest tiers. In the daytime, she has a lot of bird cares, and at night she sleeps like many inhabitants of the forest.
The way of life in most of the distribution is nomadic, in some places - migratory, in the southern part of the habitat - sedentary. Irregular events force people to leave their usual places: famine during a lean period or harsh climatic conditions.
Immediate relatives all types of jays - birds nutcracker or nutcracker, and the enemies are large birds of prey:, -goshawk,. Avidly hunts for jays cunning. There is no great threat to the number of mockingbirds, but their life is full of dangers. It is not by chance that fearfulness has become a hallmark of the bird and helps to adapt to the environment.
Features and habitat of the jay
Mixed, deciduous, coniferous forests of Europe, Russia, North Africa, Japan, China are the habitats of the jay. Lovers of thickets with shelters of branches fly out to open spaces, if there is plenty of free-standing trees.
They may appear near cities in search of food when they find parks or trees with a large crown. Jay - winter bird, bringing joy with colorful plumage in the black and white appearance of cities. Many believe that her appearance brings good luck.
Pictured is a white-breasted jay
Journeys to human dwellings enrich mockingbirds with new voices and sounds. The forest talker is able to imitate the knock of an ax, the creak of a door, the voices of dogs, cats and other domestic animals, borrowing other people's bird songs can mislead a person uninitiated in the cunning of a bird. Teases or wants to impersonate someone else by imitating bird voices? Jay not only memorizes sounds, but conveys intonations.
Pictured is a jay on an anthill
Jay feeding
The diet of birds is varied and largely depends on the season, including plant and animal food, obtained both on the ground and in trees. In spring and summer, jays feed on insects, worms, bringing invaluable benefits in the destruction of pests.
Their berries, seeds, grains beckon. Gaping, or also become the prey of swift jays. Eggs and chicks attract mockingbirds, for which they are often called robbers and nest destroyers, but plant foods are their main food.
In autumn, the main delicacy of jays is acorns, rowan berries, bird cherry, lingonberries, hazelnuts. The bird not only finds food, but thriftously makes numerous pantries for the winter. Each industrious bird digs dozens of shallow holes in which it hides acorns, cones and nuts, and then falls asleep with its paws and masks the hiding places with twigs and leaves.
The bird finds secluded places for harsh winter days in the roots of trees, in cracks in the bark or dry stump and other wood crevices. Stocks are placed where there are fewer mice: in a pine or spruce forest.
They carry nuts or acorns not one at a time, but up to 7 pieces at once in a special sublingual sac. Workers hide up to 4 kg of various supplies for the winter, providing food not only for themselves, but also for squirrels, other hungry animals, hiding places of jays under the snow. Mockingbirds themselves forget where they put away supplies, and can ruin, in turn, squirrel pantries.
Lost or forgotten acorns sprout in places far from oak groves. The benefits of seed distribution contribute to the enrichment of forestry not only with the growth of young oaks, but also with hazel, bird cherry, and mountain ash. Cases are described when jays stole potato tubers scattered in early autumn near houses for drying. Easy prey beckons the agile to profit.
Reproduction and lifespan
Spring is the mating season for jays. When choosing a pair, the birds coo, make noise, straighten their tufts in an attempt to please. Pair formation and nesting takes place from about mid-April to June in places inhabited for several years and protected from other bird species.
The construction of the nest is carried out by joint efforts from stems, twigs, wool and grass. Nests are located on strong branches near a tree trunk at a height of 1.5 m. Ornithologists argue who incubates the clutch: only the female or alternately with the male.
Jay with chicks in the nest
But as a result, after 15-17 days, chicks appear from 4-7 spotted yellow-green eggs. Parental care lasts until autumn, although after 20 days a timid independent life outside the nest begins, searching for food and trying to fly. The chicks feed first on caterpillars, which are brought by their parents, and then switch to plant foods. Jays become sexually mature only after a year.
The average life expectancy of birds in nature is 6-7 years. But the oldest jay recorded at the age of 16 years. Jay is bright and active. Communication with a person while trying to tame is entertaining and can develop into real affection. A bird can trust a person, and then it is important not to darken its spiritual radiance and show sincere concern for the forest bird.
Description of the bird
Jay is a real beauty in the world of birds. Even noble representatives of birds can envy her contrasting plumage. The exclusivity of the color of the jay lies in the selected and harmonious combination of colors that create contrast. Frankly, the unusual shape of the beak and the shape of the eyes also add charm.
The main color is beige with a slight brown tint. It covers the upper body and tummy. The neck is white, with small black stripes. At the tips of the wings there are blue stripes with small blue patches. Painted white: rump, undertail, underwing. On the head you can see two symmetrical stripes that give the impression of a mustache. They are slightly lower than the beak, which is also black. The legs are cinnamon-brown in color. Due to the sharp tail, the jay's body looks elongated.
A special highlight, jays give their eyes - they are dark, with a blue outline.
Jays weigh from 150 to 200 grams, body length - 15 cm, which resembles an ordinary one.
What does it eat
Jays with the same appetite consume both vegetable and animal foods. Birds have taken root perfectly in oak forests and feed on the fruits of these trees. They love acorns. Their beak, sharp at the edges, is able to successfully pierce these fruits, without any inconvenience. From small living creatures, they use: lizards, frogs, eggs of others, small birds.
From the side, the jays look leisurely and graceful. Their flight does not differ in speed and temperament. But if a small bird, which is only learning the lessons of flight, becomes their object of prey, then the jay will turn on vigilance - the victim cannot escape.
Jays are famous for their frugality. In their passion for accumulation, they are similar to grosbeaks, who also love to make large supplies of food.
A favorite delicacy that they always want to hide is acorns. Places of stash can be very different: under a tree, near a grotto, in a pile of old leaves.
During the autumn season, jays accumulate up to 4 kilograms of acorns. The fact is that birds do not always leave their nests when the winter period comes. The thirst for accumulation can be understood - the birds protect themselves from hunger. The snow-covered forest does not leave a chance to search for good food, so in winter the birds start hunting weaker representatives of the fauna.
Jays interestingly extract small geese from under the bark of an oak. They stick their beak into the place where there is a crack and begin to split until they get what they want.
Jays have fighter enemies - squirrels - they find bird stash, and steal stocks of birds without shame.
On the eve of a hungry winter, jays leave the forest and move closer to private houses in the hope of finding complementary foods. But these birds, to a greater extent, are forest birds. Having chosen oaks and a balanced way of life, they rarely fly out of the forest.
Jay's voice is very similar to the disturbing squeak: "cre-cre-rahh-rahh." The bird knows how to imitate other birds and even the voice of a person.
Where do they live
The jay inhabits the entire territory of Europe, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, England, Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Japan, the Urals, Korea, and China.
It builds its nests in oak or coniferous forests. Usually choose the average height. They rarely land on the ground. They move with short jumps.
Migratory or wintering
Due to the measured nature, the jay prefers not to change the location, due to the change of the season. This issue does not concern the birds inhabiting the southern countries at all - they will find comfort at any time without any problems. But the inhabitants of the northern regions are also reluctant to do so. A sharp drop in temperature does not frighten the jay, the situation with the search for food is much worse. It is impossible to find living creatures under the snow globe, so the birds fly south - to Asia, Africa.
Kinds
In nature, there are several types of jay, each of them is the bearer of its own individuality, expressed in the color of plumage.
It got its cute name due to its unusual coloring.
The bird inhabits the Japanese forests of the islands of Oshima and Takanoshima, where it is endemic. Nests are built deep in tree cavities.
For a year, a decorated jay gives offspring from three, four eggs.
She built her diet on exotic acorns, as a delicacy uses small reptiles and invertebrates.
Body dimensions are identical to the common jay.
Birds adhere to a collective way of life.
Interestingly, the blue jay has a small comb on its head that sticks out. The eyes of the bird are black, as are the paws.
Birds reach up to 30 cm in length. Weight is from 70 to 100 grams. The wingspan is 42 cm. The bird is the largest of all types of jays. They live both in pairs and in small communities. But the flight is carried out only by a flock.
Loyalty to their soulmate is maintained throughout life. The couple builds a nest together and feeds the chicks. But one female is engaged in incubation of eggs, while the husband takes care of food production. Most often, the clutch consists of three to six eggs with green patches.
Birds are good at warning of impending danger, and with the help of imitation of the voices of wild animals, they completely scare away predators.
Favorite treats are nuts, cedars, peanuts, berries. Sometimes this species steals small eggs from the nests of other birds, but this happens only when absolutely necessary - when weather conditions do not allow survival.
The bird inhabits Canada, the USA, the territory near the Gulf of Mexico.
The coloring of this bird consists of black and blue shades, which cover its body in skeins. The crest is clearly expressed on the head. Its size is much more remarkable than that of the blue jay. Above the eye, a white stripe is formed, similar to an eyebrow. On the flight wings there is a banding of blue and black.
Depending on the location, the color of the plumage may vary from contrasting to less saturated.
The black-headed blue jay consumes mice, rats, eggs of other birds. Basically, her diet is animals. The bird makes stocks of nuts and berries for the winter.
It is interesting that jays, like all corvids, can loosen the ground with the help of their beak and pick out small insects.
Nest building and chick care are identical to the blue jay.
Nests are built in sand or bushes. It feeds on spiders, scorpions, ants. Food is obtained from the ground. In general, the saxaul jay does not know how to fly well. The bird prefers fast runs. If necessary, carries out a low and short flight. Avoids packs and pair life. Only for the period of the mating season forms a family, but it breaks up after a month. In the future, they prefer to live alone. In fifteen days, the chicks learn to walk independently and look for alternative food.
The coloring of the saxaul jay is not bright. Since the bird moves by jumping, nature endowed it with an inconspicuous coloring. Its entire body is covered with an ash-gray tint, the abdomen is a dull pink. The wings have a black rim, like the entire tail. There is a rounded black spot on the brisket. The beak is thinner than that of ordinary jays. Body length up to 30 cm, and weight rarely reaches 170 grams.
male and female
The courtship season falls in the spring months. Depending on the species, jays can create a pair for life, or they can only create offspring. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed and is noticeable only in the larger size of the male. Spouses can also be distinguished by their lifestyle - females incubate eggs, and males, at this time, are looking for food.
reproduction
Most often, the clutch consists of three to six eggs, painted gray, with small green specks. The incubation process takes up to 17 days, and parental care lasts about 20 days. In mid-June, birds begin to forage on their own.
Until the very autumn, young birds stay near their parents, and then they decide for themselves where they nest.
In their natural environment, jays live from 5 to 7 years. The main enemies of these birds are martens, owls and hawks.
Content at home
If you decide to get such a pet as a jay, then you need to know that you can only tame a chick, by no means an adult. But to put a small bird on its feet is not very easy, it needs to be fed every 30 minutes.
You can keep one bird, as jays do not like competitors and even couples. Dragons are not needed at all.
Buy a spacious metal cage for the bird: 40 by 50 by 60 cm. But do not keep it locked up - the bird needs to be released for 3-4 hours in free movement. Better get an aviary.
Don't forget to spray your pet with warm water from a spray bottle - it's good for their plumage.
In food, jays are not very demanding. They can eat cereals, fruits, berries, nuts.
At home, jays can live for about 18 years. In addition, birds perfectly imitate voices.
1. When the jays are worried, their tuft on the head is ruffled. The bird tries to create a frightening sight.
2. Although there are not many types of jay in nature, they are all very different from each other. For example, some species are monogamous, while others do not welcome a family lifestyle.
3. Jays do not fly well, especially the saxaul jay, which can run well. The bird lives in Asia.
4. Stellar jay - a symbol of British Columbia. The bird got its name in honor of the German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller.
5. Jays know how to be frugal. For the winter they make large stocks of acorns or nuts. By the way, in one trip, the bird brings up to seven acorns to the stash. The fact is that in her throat there is a unique sublingual sac where the fruits are placed.
Singing
Jays are able to imitate the voices of other birds, animals, and even the sounds that humans create. The latter phenomenon is possible if the jay is domestic.
Most often, the voice of a jay has a warning character - the bird speaks of danger, shouting: “cre-cre”, “rahh - rah - rahh”.
Jays are typical forest birds, as well as more rare representatives of the corvidae family - nutcrackers, kukshas, and choughs. Jays are found almost throughout Europe, in the Caucasus and Northern Iran, in North Africa and Asia Minor, in the southern half of Siberia, on Sakhalin, in Korea, in Manchuria, in the northern part of Mongolia, in China and Japan.
Jays are rather noisy birds and at the same time sensitive and cautious. They pick up any unusual sounds, notice every stranger, and immediately, with their loud and not very pleasant cry, notify the forest inhabitants of a possible danger. In vigilance, they are not inferior to magpies. However, noticing the magpie, they also signal this to other birds and animals. They also react to the appearance of squirrels, crows, birds of prey near them - after all, they all raid their nests. True, noisy jays are not always. As soon as they begin the nesting period, they become very secretive and silent. At this point, all their behavior is subject to a comprehensive instinct for caring for offspring.
Jay nests suit in mixed and coniferous forests, strengthening them on large branches at the very trunk of trees. Both spouses build a nest - a female and a male, alternately bringing and laying building materials. On the question of who incubates the eggs of jays, the opinions of ornithologists differ: some believe that one female incubates, while others argue that both the male and the female incubate in turn. Some ornithologists believe that if the jays are disturbed, they can transfer their chicks to another, more peaceful place. Jays nest most often in forests with undergrowth and in bushes. Recently, they have begun to nest here and there in cities. In the first days of the jay, the chicks are fed with caterpillars - the male brings them, and the female already passes them on to the children. Later, other insects and their larvae also eat.
In the warm season, adult jays feed on insects, exterminating many pests such as May beetles, barbels, weevils, various leafworms, and silkworm caterpillars. Do not disdain spiders, mollusks, earthworms, lizards and frogs. It happens and they rob: they catch small birds, ruin their nests, eat chicks and eggs. Jays eat berries and fruits of mountain ash, bird cherry, and raspberries. Do not refuse hazelnuts. In autumn and winter, the main food of jays is acorns. They collect them in reserve, arranging pantries.
Every autumn, the jays jump under the oaks, pick up acorns on the ground or pluck them straight from the branches and fly to hide them. Moreover, not one acorn is transferred, but 5-7 pieces at once, placing them in a special sublingual sac. Stealthily, so that no one sees, jays hide acorns in small piles at the bases of stumps, tree trunks, under fallen leaves, moss. They most often arrange pantries in a spruce or pine forest - there are fewer mice. The total number of acorns stored by jays can reach 4 kg. Acorns forgotten or lost by jays sprout, and in different places, far from oak groves, young oaks appear. The distribution of seeds of oak, hazel, mountain ash, raspberries, bird cherry and the destruction of harmful insects jays benefit forestry. In Bashkiria, stocks of hazel nuts were found in empty bird nests on hazel bushes.
In some places, jays show a tendency to potatoes. In autumn, when potatoes begin to be dug in the fields and vegetable gardens, jays appear from the forest and drag tubers. It happens that they fly to the houses, steal from the finished heap. One forester in the Chelyabinsk region scattered dug out potatoes under the very windows of the hut to dry. The jays found out about this and began to fly here in dozens for prey. At first, the thieving bird walks innocently around the potatoes, looks closely, and then grabs a potato in its beak and flies into the forest. Having hidden their prey, the jays again returned to the hut. The forester's attempts to drive away the impudent thieves were unsuccessful. He had to hurry to put the potatoes in the prepared hole.
In autumn and winter, jays appear near forest settlements. Sometimes they fly into the forested areas of cities. More than once they were seen in Leningrad, in the park of the Forestry Academy.
The Mockingjay is a bird the size of a jackdaw. It is easily recognizable by its greyish-white head and bright blue spots on its black-tipped wings. It is a very curious and noisy bird. Every rustle attracts her, which is why she is so disliked by hunters.
Seeing a person in the forest, the mockingjay raises a noise, as if notifying everyone of the impending danger. By the way, when she is excited, feathers rise in a small tuft on her head.
Why is she called a mockingbird? And all due to the fact that she knows how to skillfully imitate any sounds she hears. This is dog barking, saw screeching and mournful meowing. And if suddenly you hear something unusual in the forest, don't be alarmed - this is a mockingjay (photo on the right) with its tricks. The only time when she behaves calmly, even secretly, is nesting time.
This bird is quite extensive: the northern regions of Africa, Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the southern part of Siberia, Korea, Sakhalin, Japan and Manchuria, China and northern Mongolia. Part of its population leads and part is migratory. Nomadic jays can be observed during autumn and winter. The Mockingjay lives in mixed, coniferous, and deciduous forests, although it has a greater preference for deciduous forests. In the southern regions it can also nest among shrubs.
In the first days of spring, birds create pairs. At this time, males fly low over the trees, and their singing consists of sounds overheard in the forest. Mostly nests are found on middle-aged and young or conifers. The nest is built by both parents. This is a small tray with a diameter of 20 cm and a depth of 10 cm, made of thin twigs and lined with dry grass and elastic roots. It takes them a week to do this job.
From the end of April to the end of May, the mockingjay starts laying eggs. Most often, there are 5 of them in the nest, but there may be 7, and 8, and even 10 eggs. Incubation occurs for 17 days, with both parents. The entire feeding period, adult birds have to work from early morning until late evening. They appear twice every hour near the nest. After 20 days, the chicks begin to fly.
Mockingjay has a fairly wide diet. The main plant food is oak acorns. In addition, she regales herself with raspberries, bird cherry, strawberries and mountain ash. Likes seeds of sunflower, spruce, wheat, cucumber, oats, corn, peas and so on. From spring to autumn, she adds insects to her diet. The subject of her hunt are hornets, weevils, May silkworms, sawfly larvae, and others. She can also eat frogs, lizards, small rodents and does not shun small birds and their eggs.
For the winter, the Mockingjay likes to harvest acorns and hazelnuts. She hides them several times in leaves, under the bark of fallen trees and buries them in moss. Many reserves remain unused: either she forgets about them, or simply does not find them. Thus, the jay is engaged in a useful work: with its help, oaks and other plants sprout far from their native trees. But due to the fact that she destroys other people's nests, she is classified as a pest. Although in this regard, it causes minimal harm, as it mainly prefers plant foods.
