All About Blue Jays and How to Attract Them

You're intrigued by blue jays, but did you know they aren't the only jays? It's true! They are part of the Corvidae family, which includes at least ten other types of jays living in the United States. This family includes ravens, crows, and magpies, to name a few. If you live in a coastal town, you might spot the pretty blue California scrub jay. Check out a side-by-side comparison of this bird and a blue jay. Both blue, but very different!

But let's get back to blue jays. They have unique markings, sounds, and personalities worth getting to know.

We reached out to Bill F. Huser, a past president of the Loess Hills Audubon Society and a veteran birder with over 50 years of experience, to learn more about identifying and attracting blue jays.

How to Identify a Blue Jay

If you're peeking through a pair of binoculars at a blue-colored bird on your feeder and can't tell if it's a blue jay or bluebird, here are a few telltale signs.

Vocalizations

Blue jays make incredibly loud noises, act boisterous, and get aggressive with other birds. When they sing, it's often shrill, harsh, and sometimes squeaky. Blue jays also like to mimic other birds, including hawks.

"This boldness often benefits smaller birds, as blue jays will sound the alarm when hawks, owls, cats, or other predators are in the vicinity. Furthermore, a group of jays will mob these predators in an attempt to drive them away," Huser shared.

You can listen to the wide variety of blue jay vocalizations posted on the Cornell University Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds web page.

Appearance

Physically, blue jays measure much larger (about 12 inches) than bluebirds (about 7 inches), have a bright blue back, wings, and head with white undersides, a blue crest (the tuft of feathers on the head), and a long, stout beak. Interestingly, both male and female blue jays have the same colors and markings, making the two sexes indistinguishable visually.

"The blue jay is the only blue-colored jay in the eastern two-thirds of North America (outside central Florida)," Huser added. "Other species of jays, some of them blue, occur in the West."

Fun fact: A blue jay's feathers are actually a dull brown color, but we see them as blue! Like the bluebird, the striking hues aren't a result of pigmentation. Instead, the coloration comes from a complex arrangement of air bubbles and keratin (a protein-rich tissue found in feathers) that only reflects short blue wavelengths for us to see.

Where to Find Blue Jays In Nature

Blue jays live in the eastern two-thirds of the United States and Canada. In some areas, select blue jays migrate south in the fall, while others stay put during the winter months. It seems younger jays like to migrate more than adults. And the birds tend to choose different migration plans from year to year. Perhaps it's just part of their curious nature!

You'll find these colorful birds in forests and open woodlands. Blue jays build nests in trees (not bushes or the eaves of your home, like other birds), and forage along the ground for their meals, especially around oak trees shedding acorns.

If you're curious to discover more about their location and migration, check out the National Audubon Society's seasonal range map for blue jays.

How to Bring Blue Jays to Your Backyard

In the summer, blue jays scavenge for insects such as caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, and spiders, as well as seeds, berries, and small fruits. When winter arrives, they dine on acorns, beechnuts, grains, carrion, and seeds.

To bring blue jays to your backyard, Huser recommends offering a stable, shelf-like bird feeder. Blue jays, with their large bodies, can't get comfortable on small hanging feeders. Consider the Kaytee Cedar Bird Bath Or Feeder. This option can hold approximately 3 pounds of seed. It features a vented plastic mesh bottom to reduce the growth of mold and bacteria.

Fill the feeder with Kaytee Birders' Paradise, a blend of sunflower seeds, cracked corn, milo, millet, wheat, peanuts, and more delicious ingredients blue jays love. You can also add in a sprinkle of Kaytee Peanut Suet Nuggets. These tasty morsels feature beef suet, roasted peanuts, corn, oats, and soybean oil. The high-fat content provides blue jays much-needed energy, especially during winter when natural food sources dwindle.

If you've made friends with a few blue jays that regularly visit your feeder, Huser says you can delight them with their favorite snack ever — peanuts in the shell.

"Blue jays are among the smartest of birds and even cache food found in good times for leaner times ahead. In laboratory studies, blue jays have used tools," Huser explained.

The Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst shares a study where Northern blue jays tore pieces of newspaper, then used the scraps as rakes to bring food pellets within reach.

Enjoy Blue Jays at Your Home

Are you planning to update your landscaping? Attract blue jays to your backyard by planting a few of their favorite trees, including oaks, pines, and beech.

Then look beyond your bird feeder. You might just have a blue jay or two in your bird bath — even in the winter!

"I observed a blue jay chipping ice out of a frozen bird bath with its stout bill. Not only did the jay get ice chips to consume, but smaller, less powerful birds, such as dark-eyed juncos and black-capped chickadees, quickly snatched up the smaller chips, getting water they could not easily obtain on their own," Huser shared.

The takeaway? Fill a bird bath, even in the cold winter months. And keep it flowing freely during the winter with a bird bath deicer. You'll attract more feathered friends looking for a drink.

Learn more about identifying wild birds in Bird Identification By Color and which birds are visiting your feeder in 10 Common Backyard Birds.