Painted with copper oxide, buckthorn berries + bark, and wild grape.
Feeder watchers know them as bullies. Birders know them as nest robbers. Like other corvids, blue jays will sometimes eat carrion. Unlike other corvids, jays will hop to get around on the ground — crows will walk. When blue jays are at ease, feeding with family or a trusted flock, they may lower the feathers of their crest. Blue jays will also “mob” predators, a group of them chasing away an owl. So while jays are themselves sometimes a threat to songbirds, they can also function as other animals’ protectors — nothing in life is simple.