This week we’ve had some new species showing up at the bird feeders–including a couple of Blue Jays. I believe they were a mated pair, because one was larger than the other. They are not a rare bird, of course, but this was their first observed visit to our feeders. After doing some research, I think I found out why they have not been common sights in our yard. They like to perch in oak and beech trees, feeding on the acorns and mast. We have our feeders stationed in maples and ornamentals. Our only oak tree in the yard is not in a good spot for observations, but I’m going to try putting a feeder up in our oak tree and see if that attracts more jays. So, if you have some oaks and see lots of Blue Jays in your yard, that’s probably why.
I did note that this morning on my way to church there were three jays in one of our black walnut trees. So, they apparently don’t exclusively hang out in the oaks.
This week I was able to do some detective work and identify another species that we had visiting in the winter and very early spring that I wasn’t familiar with–but hadn’t seen once the weather warmed up. This bird had similar coloration to a blue jay, but was much smaller and resembed a woodpecker in the way that it used its feet to go up and down the trunk of the tree where one of our feeders hang. Know what it is? I finally identified it as a nuthatch. Nuthatch mostly feed on insects, but are common seed eaters in the winter months when insects are not available. So, I’ll be keeping an eye out this winter for more.
Filed under: Bird Watching | Tagged: blue jay, nuthatch
