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Hi from Sussex ! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jensen
- Start date
Hi Jensen and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. Jays have always been ultra shy round here, in fact for the first time in 20 year I've manage to get pictures of them this last month!!! I've been sneaky LOL.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.
Hi and welcome to BirdForum.
Rich
Rich
Thank you all for the welcomes !
I am fortunate to live on the edge of mixed woodland , my visitors over the years have included mainly larger birds, pidgeons ,crows and jackdaws etc .Smaller song birds are sadly not so prolific but not totally absent. So back to Jays, historically only seen fleetingly and NEVER feeding on my table which provides grain and seeds for smaller birds. This has now changed, Jays now regularly compete quite aggressively for anything available including seeds. I thought they were mainly carnivorous ? Has this resulted from the decline of their usual prey ? It would be interesting to learn if others have noticed this.
I am fortunate to live on the edge of mixed woodland , my visitors over the years have included mainly larger birds, pidgeons ,crows and jackdaws etc .Smaller song birds are sadly not so prolific but not totally absent. So back to Jays, historically only seen fleetingly and NEVER feeding on my table which provides grain and seeds for smaller birds. This has now changed, Jays now regularly compete quite aggressively for anything available including seeds. I thought they were mainly carnivorous ? Has this resulted from the decline of their usual prey ? It would be interesting to learn if others have noticed this.
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Jays are famous for collecting and storing acorns; a major winter food source and just a big seed. They will carry between 5 and 10 acorns in throat pouch and beak (depending on the size of acorns). Indeed any Oak seedlng sprouting many metres from the nearest Oak is likely to be the result of Jay food-storing. A few years ago there was a major failure of the acorn crop in parts of Europe which resulted in thousands of Jays irrupting to the UK in search of food. A shortage of acorns is much more likely to result in hungry Jays in winter than a dearth of small birds. In urban situations or nature reserves, where not persecuted, they can become habituated to people and appear much "tamer" and approachable than usual. It is normal for them to use bird feeders in gardens. Finally; they are omnivores and are just as likely to take the eggs of pigeons and any other larger bird, if they get the chance and will feed on insects, spiders, small reptiles etc as well as seeds and fruits of other trees and smaller plants and will take carrion.
