SEPTEMBER EXTRA 2019 birdsandblooms.com 39
MEXICAN JAY
At first, all crestless blue-colored jays
look similar. This species is known
for its bicolor markings—blue above
and gray below—and nasal wink? calls.
Found in the mountains of Arizona,
New Mexico and Texas, Mexican jays
stay in groups even at nesting time,
when they share feeding duty for
hungry nestlings.CANADA JAY
Endearingly tame and undeniably
cute, these jays, formerly known
as gray jays, don’t look or act like
other jays! Fluffy gray and white,
with a small bill suited to twisting
off meat, Canada jays live in boreal,
coniferous forests of the far North
and high in the western mountains.
So tame that they will eat right from
a human hand, these jays are famed
for approaching hikers, hunters and
campers. Meat is what they want,or bread, suet and other soft foods,
which they cache in bark or branches,
not in the soil. Nuts and seeds at
feeders are less appealing to them.
These calm jays tend to be more silent
than their kin. It’s other nesting birds
that sound the alarm when one comes
near, because nestlings are just more
meat to a Canada jay.PINYON JAY
This western species is in dramatic
decline—down by an estimated
85% since 1970. Much of its tree and
shrubby habitat has been turned into
grazing lands. These short-tailed jays
roam in big flocks to find meaty pinyon
pine nuts, uttering nasal caws to keep
in touch. Look for them from Montana
to Oregon, south to New Mexico and
Arizona. P.S. No need to break the
bank buying pine nuts: They’ll eat the
usual jay menu of sunflower seeds,
peanuts, corn and suet. •Sally Roth was watching
blue jays harass a 6-foot-
long black rat snake in a
tree in Indiana when one
extra daring jay gave it
a sharp peck, causing
the snake to instantly let
loose and drop—right
onto her shoulder.PINYON JAYS
stuff their esophagi
with up to 40 pinyon
pine seeds, stashing
them away to eat later.LEFT: STEVE AND DAVE MASLOWSKI; RIGHT: MARIE READ