Blue Jays must be bully birds because any other bird will get the hell out when one lands in my yard

[Shell Beau]

The Robins scatter. The Cardinals scatter. They seem afraid. A Blue Jay just landed two feet from me and realized I was sitting here. I saw the panic on his face! :7

Birds are so cool.
















But I love cats too! :evilgrin:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Blue jays are aggressive and territorial toward other birds.

As members of the crow family, they are also pretty smart.

[Shell Beau]

2. Just sitting outside these past few days I noticed that.

I never knew that. They can just land anywhere in my yard and any other bird is GONE!! Buh bye! They are pretty birds to be in the crow family. I never knew that.

[Dr Fate]

3. Doncha remember "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

Atticus would allow Jem to shoot blue jays (because they attacked other birds), but not mockingbirds-because all they do is sing...

[Shell Beau]

4. I am the one idiot that hasn't seen that! I know I know I HAVE to see it.

I have tried to buy it, but it has been hard to find. Gotta buy it online!

[blueknight]

5. i was watching out the window

and seen two of them attacking a cat! they kept diving at the cat until he took off running!

[Shell Beau]

6. They kick ass!! My all time fave bird though is the Hawk!

Gotta love the Hawk. They are awesome. I have seen some snatch up a mouse and snake before. So cool. But then of course I feel sorry for the mouse and snake.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[Shell Beau]

33. You jonesing for an ass whoopin'?

:P

[Dr Fate]

38. Yes- if only all Southerners were as intelligent as you are...

...then maybe they could write a good book every now and then, do something constructive, or otherwise contribute to culture & society.

Yes, it's true- Harper Lee, Faulkner, Jimmy Carter, Robert Johnson, Bill Clinton, MLK, etc, etc - all "idiots" who steal from everyone, etc.

[TZ]

7. blue jays will EAT baby birds sometimes

I saw an amazing picture of a Jay eating baby robins .Jays really are quite aggressive

[Shell Beau]

8. Why didn't I know that? Jeez, they are so freakin' common around here,

and I never noticed until now how the other birds get the hell outta dodge! :shrug:

[sarge43]

9. They're also Corvidae, like crows and ravens, omnivores. n/t

[Shell Beau]

12. But do they kill? Or do they scavenge?

[sarge43]

14. Both. n/t

[Shell Beau]

15. I had no clue. That ups them a little for me.

Stupid, I know, but I am fascinated with birds of prey for some reason.

[sarge43]

22. Wouldn't call them birds of prey, like owls or raptors.

Being omnivores they eat what's available and easiest to get. Animals, especially birds, are careful to calculate energy expended verses energy gained; they won't waste energy getting food if there isn't a balanced return for the effort. Birds of prey can get away with a one in three success rate on kills because protein gives a high return.

So, dropping like a sack of cement into the middle of a flock of birds honking down the ground seed Mr or Mrs Sarge just put out is easier (and more fun) than expending energy flying around looking for an unguarded nest of hatchings. Especially if a very angry mom and/or dad catches you and kicks your butt down the line of maples.

[Shell Beau]

23. I thought about that after I posted. Really, they are birds of

opportunity.

[sarge43]

31. Birds of opportunity. Sums them perfectly.

"If it ain't nailed down, it's ours."

[Canuckistanian]

24. The Corvidae are the badasses of the bird world

Agressive, intelligent and utterly charming.

I love watching them, although they do tend to scare away my favorite Chickadees and Nuthatches from the feeder.

[sarge43]

27. Corvidae are right up there with parrots for blessed with brains.

If the two families ever get together, they could rule the world.

[BeachBaby]

10. They're agressive little SOBs.

Don't get me wrong - I think they're beautiful and scary smart - but I saw one of those guys go after my dog, back when I was a teenager. Flew down and smacked him on the head. My dog was a Bullmastiff - not small by any stretch - but the bird had no qualms with doing a sneak attack on him, before heading back up to the treetop.

[Shell Beau]

11. Wow! They are little assholes!! No wonder the other birds get the fuck out!

[BeachBaby]

13. They're beautiful and smart and very narcissistic.

And they know it. :7

[Swede]

16. Yeah,but they're #1 in the East at, 15-9.

Not sure how long that will last with the pitching they have.

[Shell Beau]

17. Are you a fan?

[Swede]

18. Yes,I am.

The east is so damned tough,year in year out.

[Shell Beau]

19. I love baseball. I don't get all caught up in it though.

I am a Yankee fan by default!! My dad and brother are HARDCORE Yankee fans so I grew up in it. But I just love to watch baseball. Live if I can. I have seen a few professional games. None of the Yankees or Blue Jays though.

[Swede]

21. Same here (not a fanatical fan),but it is a cool game to watch.

:toast:

[Tom Kitten]

25. It's the same out here with scrub jays

We don't have true blue jays but their relatives, the scrub jays. They fit the niche, though! They squawk, dive bomb cats, and are very territorial at driving other birds away. At my old house we had a pigeon's nest, the jays would attack it and knock the pigeon's eggs to the ground.

However they are admirable birds. My cat caught one of their nestlings just out of the nest learning to fly and despite my efforts he was too quick and it died. It's parents squawked (in grief?) for hours afterwards. And they are magnificent looking birds...

[Retrograde]

41. They're smart

I watched one teach its young how to forage for themselves, by plucking cherries from my tree, holding them by the stem, and smashing them against the fence to reduce them to bite-sized pieces.

Mockingbirds, another jay cousin, can also be aggressive: I saw one chase off a crow this week.

[jobycom]

26. They have BO and tell boring stories and spit when they talk.

That's why all the other birds don't hang around them.

[peekaloo]

28. Loud and obnoxious, too.

I've seen the woodpeckers give 'em a jab, now and then, just for being lil assholes.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. Yeah, they are mean birds. Territorial

[TheMightyFavog]

29. Blue Jays are evil.

Motherfuckers took Paul Molitor away from my Brewers when I was a kid. :grr:

[gblady]

30. Jays can be so funny.....

I've seen them tease my cats.....
they'll land on a branch that's just beyond
the cat's reach, and just verbally badger them...

[Blue Diadem]

32. We don't see them anymore. They used to "own" the yard.

That was before the neighbor cut down the fence row of trees and west nile hit around here.

I've been swooped and chased and pecked at when one of their young fell out of a tree and I made the mistake of walking in my own backyard.

Back then, we had an indoor/outdoor cat who wasn't afraid of anything, well, except the huge owl that used to come around. He'd hear that thing hoot and he'd dive for cover. Old Sir Thomas C. cat used to have fun with the blue jays though. He'd lay on his back and they'd swoop and he'd swat. He'd get up and run, they'd chase him, he'd fall over and do it all over again. We used to laugh because when he'd go outside the Jays would start screaming and I swear they were saying CAT CAT! Course, they also did that same call when the dog would go out too.

I do miss seeing them, they are beautiful birds and they sure can make so many interesting sounds.

[rucky]

34. But their fielding is pretty weak this season.

[UTUSN]

35. They ARE evil and bullies!1 Here's what I saw once:

I was on a walkway where there was an overhanging branch about 1/4 of the way in front of me. There was a squirrel on the branch.

A bluejay flew in and started pecking at the squirrel to make it fall to the ground right in front of me.

The bluejay clearly thought I would do something bad to the squirrel, who had a deer-headlight second staring at me before running away.


The bluejay had perched to watch my supposed mayhem, but then flew disappointedly away when nothing happened.

[Shell Beau]

36. They are mean! Jeez.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

39. Jays are bullies but

I've seen Mourning Doves kill their own for bird seed. They surround the seed and attack any bird who gets in the mix.

[eppur_se_muova]

40. I saw blue jays attacking a roosting falcon.

Apparently it was "their" tree, and they wanted him out. Made a Hell of a racket.

[Mugu]

42. Jays are most attractive and fun to watch, but they are opportunist.

However, I seen Doves run them off when they got too close to their nest and just yesterday I watched a Robin chase one away from it's nest.

This is the first year in some time that we have had many Jays due to West Nile. I most glad to see them back.