9 Blue Jay Facts You Might Not Know

Blue Jays. They're loud, bold, beautiful, and intelligent. Today, we're getting into nine little-known facts about these brilliant birds that most people don't know. Fact 1. Blue Jays aren't actually blue. That might be the most startling fact on this list, and it's not a joke. The Blue Jays' iconic color is a trick of physics. Their feathers contain no blue pigment at all. Instead, microscopic structures in the feathers scatter light so that only the blue wavelengths reflect back to our eyes. If you backlight a feather, it turns a brownish gray. The underlying pigment in the Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. If the feather is crushed, the blue disappears entirely, revealing the true color. Fact 2. Blue Jays can mimic sounds. Perfectly. Blue Jays are master impressionists. They frequently mimic other birds, such as crows, different species of owls, bald eagles, and varied hawks, especially the red-shouldered hawk and the red-tailed hawk. It's generally speculated that this mimicry is done to warn other Jays or to trick other species into thinking a predator is nearby. They've even been known to imitate car alarms and rotary phones. That last one is kind of weird to me. In any case, unless a Blue Jay is seen making the noise, you'll never be able to tell if it's a real sound or not. Fact 3. They are expanding to the west. Blue Jays are historically eastern birds, with a range that encompasses the entire United States' eastern seaboard, most of Canada's eastern seaboard, including Newfoundland, the entire midwest of the United States to the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and most of southern Canada. They have, however, been gradually expanding into the northwest, showing just how adaptable they are to new environments and climates. As a result of this expansion, Blue Jays have been known to mate with other Jays, particularly the Stellar's Jay, but also with Green Jays, with at least one rather notable example of a Blue Jay-Green Jay hybrid seen and photographed around San Antonio, Texas in 2023, known by an informal and unofficial portmanteau, Grue Jay. Fact 4. Their migration patterns are still a mystery. Thousands of Blue Jays migrate along the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast every year. Scientists, however, still don't know why some Blue Jays migrate and others don't. Some Blue Jays will even migrate one year, stay home the next, and then migrate again. Science still hasn't figured out why Blue Jays migrate, if they partake, or why they don't, if they forego migration, although it's thought it could possibly be due to weather and or food availability in winter. Fact 5. They can use tools. Like all Corvids, Blue Jays are considered highly intelligent. They've been observed using tools, with captive Jays known to use strips of newspaper to pull food from outside their cages closer to them, and captive fledglings have been seen trying to open the doors to their cages. At least one wild Blue Jay has been observed using a strip of bark while trying to catch a spider. That's some pretty impressive problem-solving intelligence. Fact 6. They often mate for life. Blue Jays form strong pair bonds and often remain with the same mate year-round. During nesting, the male feeds the female while she incubates the eggs, maintaining their tight family structure. Male and female Blue Jays are virtually indistinguishable from each other in appearance, although males are generally very slightly larger than females. Once the young are capable of flight, the family forages and travels together until early autumn, when the young strike out on their own to lessen the competition for food. Fact 7. Their crests are an indicator of their mood. When feeding with family, members of their flock, or looking after their young, Blue Jays lower their crests. If you see a Blue Jay with a raised crest, it's on alert, as ready as it can be for trouble. Fact 8. They're not the nest-raiding villains people believe. Blue Jays have a reputation for raiding nests, but studies show it's extremely rare, with one large study finding only about 1% of Blue Jays' stomach contents contain traces of eggs or nestlings. Fact 9. They helped regrow North America's oak forests. After the last glacial maximum, Blue Jays played a surprising ecological role in helping reforest North America. Their habit of burying acorns, and subsequently forgetting the locations of those caches, helped oak forests expand northward as the glaciers receded. There they are. Nine facts about Blue Jays that most people don't know, revealing just how complex, intelligent, and perhaps misunderstood these birds really are. If you enjoyed learning something new today, please don't hesitate to hit that like button, subscribe for more videos, and let me know in the comments which Blue Jay fact surprised you the most.