Bluejays can kind of be jerks

[Scooter91]

So I've got a big picture window in the living room, with the couch backed up to it. The cat likes to sit on the back of the couch and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I'm sitting there this afternoon when there's an almighty thud and I see the cat rear up in surprise. A bluejay came at the cat full speed and smashed head first into the window, hard enough to leave a little feather residue behind. I look out and he's laying in the rocks beneath the window motionless, and by the sound when he hit the window, I figure he's got to be a goner.

I go and put some shoes on to go out and clean up the corpse, but when I get back to the living room and look out the window again, the bluejay is gone! Tougher than they look, I think, and go back to relaxing in front of the goggle box. 20 minutes or so go by and the cat is sawing logs on the couch back, and I may have been resting my eyes for a few seconds, when here comes the bluejay again.

The same one? A second kamikaze? Don't know... Again the window is hit hard enough to reverberate slightly, the cat has a small heart attack (me too), and when I look outside there's a stunned bluejay laying in the rocks again. I wait a few minutes, and sure enough he slowly comes back to life and eventually flies off. It's beyond me what he was trying to accomplish, maybe trying to do a fly-by on the cat and give him a scare? Was he mad because the bird feeder was low on seed?

I'm thinking it will be a self-solving problem, because if he keeps rapping his melon that hard on the window, he'll be pushing up daisies pretty soon. Or maybe he's hit enough windows that he's goofy and enjoys it. I just know that both the cat and I are too old for this *stuff*!

 

[G.Rotten]

So I've got a big picture window in the living room, with the couch backed up to it. The cat likes to sit on the back of the couch and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I'm sitting there this afternoon when there's an almighty thud and I see the cat rear up in surprise. A bluejay came at the cat full speed and smashed head first into the window, hard enough to leave a little feather residue behind. I look out and he's laying in the rocks beneath the window motionless, and by the sound when he hit the window, I figure he's got to be a goner.

I go and put some shoes on to go out and clean up the corpse, but when I get back to the living room and look out the window again, the bluejay is gone! Tougher than they look, I think, and go back to relaxing in front of the goggle box. 20 minutes or so go by and the cat is sawing logs on the couch back, and I may have been resting my eyes for a few seconds, when here comes the bluejay again.

The same one? A second kamikaze? Don't know... Again the window is hit hard enough to reverberate slightly, the cat has a small heart attack (me too), and when I look outside there's a stunned bluejay laying in the rocks again. I wait a few minutes, and sure enough he slowly comes back to life and eventually flies off. It's beyond me what he was trying to accomplish, maybe trying to do a fly-by on the cat and give him a scare? Was he mad because the bird feeder was low on seed?

I'm thinking it will be a self-solving problem, because if he keeps rapping his melon that hard on the window, he'll be pushing up daisies pretty soon. Or maybe he's hit enough windows that he's goofy and enjoys it. I just know that both the cat and I are too old for this *stuff*!

Blue Jays can be jerks but I recently discovered there's a "Grey Jay" and I've been blaming their jerky behavior on the Blue Jays.

The Grey Jay still has Blue on it but also has a significant amount of Grey. A group of 3-5 of them will follow people up and down the street and take turns squawking and flying over head. This was happening in the fall so I assume they wouldn't be protecting young. It's more likely these are the rowdy teens using strength in numbers to act real tough.

https://images.app.goo.gl/rMDvbkg7EeBXpctd7

I'd never heard of a Grey Jay before I complained to someone about the Blue Jays on my street.

 

[Scooter91]

It's more likely these are the rowdy teens using strength in numbers to act real tough.

I think you're onto something there. What's the matter with kids today?

 

[G.Rotten]

I think you're onto something there. What's the matter with kids today?

Some of them should make like the Jays and flock off.

 

[68tele]

Maybe paint a tunnel on the window glass (Acme style) so the li'l bastards can just fly thru.

 

[DugT]

A Blue Jay, they are actually called Stellars Jays, often lands on a window sill that is right next to my desk and only 3' from my face. It flaps its wings and pecks the window and then I put food out for it on a nearby deck railing. To get a good photo of it, I opened the window. It flew up expecting to land up against the window and flopped inside and onto my desk. That scared the crap out of it but we are still friends.

Once a red tailed hawk flew into the same window and it shook that side of the house. It took hours for the hawk to fully recover.

Birds of all sizes land on my roof because it has good views of a lake behind my house and squirrels and chipmunks. Once I heard something huge walking on the roof and it was a bald eagle. That was fun to see.

Today I saw four Snow Geese near my house. I love it here.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Blue Jays can be jerks but I recently discovered there's a "Grey Jay" and I've been blaming their jerky behavior on the Blue Jays.

The Grey Jay still has Blue on it but also has a significant amount of Grey. A group of 3-5 of them will follow people up and down the street and take turns squawking and flying over head. This was happening in the fall so I assume they wouldn't be protecting young. It's more likely these are the rowdy teens using strength in numbers to act real tough.

https://images.app.goo.gl/rMDvbkg7EeBXpctd7

I'd never heard of a Grey Jay before I complained to someone about the Blue Jays on my street.

Silly question,

Are you sure that Grey Jays are not just female blue Jays?
I know that unlike male Cardinals which are bright red, that female cardinals are mostly grey w/red highlights.

Just wondering if the same with blue jays? ( just guessing)

Birds are cool!
Our band did a recent outdoor gig in Alexandria, VA near the Potomac, and we saw a bald eagle flying above us during our break!

 

[G.Rotten]

Silly question,

Are you sure that Grey Jays are not just female blue Jays?
I know that unlike male Cardinals which are bright red, that female cardinals are mostly grey w/red highlights.

Just wondering if the same with blue jays? ( just guessing)

Birds are cool!
Our band did a recent outdoor gig in Alexandria, VA near the Potomac, and we saw a bald eagle flying above us during our break!

That's what I always thought the Grey ones were because often the females have less coloring. Apparently there's an actual Grey Jay & they're fairly aggressive. The ones by my house have Blue in their tail but when I look closer are mostly Grey.

 

[nojazzhere]

So I've got a big picture window in the living room, with the couch backed up to it. The cat likes to sit on the back of the couch and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I'm sitting there this afternoon when there's an almighty thud and I see the cat rear up in surprise. A bluejay came at the cat full speed and smashed head first into the window, hard enough to leave a little feather residue behind. I look out and he's laying in the rocks beneath the window motionless, and by the sound when he hit the window, I figure he's got to be a goner.

I go and put some shoes on to go out and clean up the corpse, but when I get back to the living room and look out the window again, the bluejay is gone! Tougher than they look, I think, and go back to relaxing in front of the goggle box. 20 minutes or so go by and the cat is sawing logs on the couch back, and I may have been resting my eyes for a few seconds, when here comes the bluejay again.

The same one? A second kamikaze? Don't know... Again the window is hit hard enough to reverberate slightly, the cat has a small heart attack (me too), and when I look outside there's a stunned bluejay laying in the rocks again. I wait a few minutes, and sure enough he slowly comes back to life and eventually flies off. It's beyond me what he was trying to accomplish, maybe trying to do a fly-by on the cat and give him a scare? Was he mad because the bird feeder was low on seed?

I'm thinking it will be a self-solving problem, because if he keeps rapping his melon that hard on the window, he'll be pushing up daisies pretty soon. Or maybe he's hit enough windows that he's goofy and enjoys it. I just know that both the cat and I are too old for this *stuff*!

Many years ago (30-35?) at my previous house, I was home during the day, and my front door was open. (storm door closed, but I could see through) I heard this horrendous squawking and ruckus, and went to see what was going on. Took me a few minutes to figure out, but there was an injured Blue Jay on the front walk, and a cat (NOT mine) under a bush. Every time the cat tried to venture out, one or two of numerous other Blue Jays began squawking and "dive-bombing" the cat. The cat would scurry back to protection. The bird on the walk was alive, but seemed to be unable to fly to safety. The "flock" were protecting the injured Jay. Finally, the cat figured out he could flee if he went AWAY from the bird, and he escaped to safety. The other birds continued to nudge and encourage the injured one to weakly flutter away. I assume he survived, but don't really know. But the flock definitely had the other one's "Six".....and hopefully he made it to be obnoxious again.

 

[Dan R]

Blue Jays are just like that. They are working class birds, not like the high class cardinals.

 

[rickthescot]

Nature has some strange ways of displaying itself. Animals always fascinate me. My 10 lb dog always challenges my 30 lb dog.

 

[Alex_C]

We had a very stupid cardinal slamming into our house and car windows. From what I understand, the bird would see its reflection and perceive it as another competing male. It was trying to attack the other bird, repeatedly for weeks. The bird would crap at impact.

 

[Killing Floor]

Yeah they can be little flying A holes. There was one that used to harass my dog. She expressed her feelings when she caught it and the came to an agreement, it doesn’t bother her anymore.

 

[Dan German]

When I lived in Denver, we had a young tabby with attitude. He was out in the yard one day, and a blue Jay dive-bombed him, and flipped him right over. He looked around to see what hit him, and the jay did it again. He dove under a shrub, and I had to rescue him. Kind of embarrassing, really.

Blue Jays can be jerks but I recently discovered there's a "Grey Jay" and I've been blaming their jerky behavior on the Blue Jays.

The Grey Jay still has Blue on it but also has a significant amount of Grey. A group of 3-5 of them will follow people up and down the street and take turns squawking and flying over head. This was happening in the fall so I assume they wouldn't be protecting young. It's more likely these are the rowdy teens using strength in numbers to act real tough.

https://images.app.goo.gl/rMDvbkg7EeBXpctd7

I'd never heard of a Grey Jay before I complained to someone about the Blue Jays on my street.

Grey Jay is known by other names, including “”Whiskey Jack” which is a corruption of “Wiisagejaak“ (Oji-Cree spelling, there are other versions). Wiisagejaak is a mostly benevolent character in the mythology of many cultures, comparable to Coyote. A Trickster, often.

A Blue Jay, they are actually called Stellars Jays, often lands on a window sill that is right next to my desk and only 3' from my face. It flaps its wings and pecks the window and then I put food out for it on a nearby deck railing. To get a good photo of it, I opened the window. It flew up expecting to land up against the window and flopped inside and onto my desk. That scared the crap out of it but we are still friends.

Once a red tailed hawk flew into the same window and it shook that side of the house. It took hours for the hawk to fully recover.

Birds of all sizes land on my roof because it has good views of a lake behind my house and squirrels and chipmunks. Once I heard something huge walking on the roof and it was a bald eagle. That was fun to see.

Today I saw four Snow Geese near my house. I love it here.

Steller’s Jay is a different species related to Blue and Grey Jays. Similar behaviour, but in my experience less bold than the Grey, and less of an ***hole than the Blue. Lots of them here.

 

[Fiesta Red]

There was one that nested in a tree in front of our church…he used to dive bomb everyone until one 75-year-old congregant whacked him with her Bible, mid-flight. She’s a tough old bird (the congregant, not the Blue Jay). After that, he just squawked as we walked past.

Nature has some strange ways of displaying itself. Animals always fascinate me. My 10 lb dog always challenges my 30 lb dog.

Our seven-pound Silky Terrier (Willie) has convinced our 110-pound Dogo Argentino (Hank) that he (Willie) is significantly larger. Hank relies on Willie for protection from harassment from the four Blue Heelers that live behind us. Willie runs along the fence, barking and threatening so Hank can poop in peace. Willie also pushes Hank out of the way when treats are handed out.

 

[Dacious]

Mate, you ain't seen nuttin'



These birds are hyper intelligent. You can talk to them and they understand emotion from tone, and they recognise faces.

They've been known to use twigs as tools. And their language is incredibly detailed. They even set sentinels, and warn other birds when danger like big crowd are around.

 

[trev333]

Just about every local bird species have flown in under my veranda and into the glass.... and I've had to fetch them and let them go outside... green parrots, butcher birds, magpies, Kookaburras, etc...

no stranger to the thud of glass and a ruffle of feathers....

I'm always surprised how light they are even the bigger birds...

 

[Dan German]

I'm always surprised how light they are even the bigger birds...

I know, right? I mean, obviously, they can fly, they can’t be very heavy. But the brain just doesn’t want to connect the size of the object with how light they feel. I have had a big Harris hawk on my hand. She weighed about two pounds. Even a bald eagle is like 12 pounds tops, and that’s for a very big female. They can be as little as 6 pounds.

 

[DugT]

When I lived in Denver, we had a young tabby with attitude. He was out in the yard one day, and a blue Jay dive-bombed him, and flipped him right over. He looked around to see what hit him, and the jay did it again. He dove under a shrub, and I had to rescue him. Kind of embarrassing, really.



Grey Jay is known by other names, including “”Whiskey Jack” which is a corruption of “Wiisagejaak“ (Oji-Cree spelling, there are other versions). Wiisagejaak is a mostly benevolent character in the mythology of many cultures, comparable to Coyote. A Trickster, often.



Steller’s Jay is a different species related to Blue and Grey Jays. Similar behaviour, but in my experience less bold than the Grey, and less of an ***hole than the Blue. Lots of them here.

Thanks for correcting me. In California most people call Stellars Jays "Blue Jays" but we have no Blue Jays here.

 

[DugT]

A friend of mine had a kitten that got sick. A month and $1000 in vet bills later, it was doing well so my friend let it out of the house for the first time. It was about 20 feet behind my friend when an owl swooped it up and flew off with it.