October 27, 2025

The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), in the Corvidae family. There are more than 120 species of birds in this family, including Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Nutcrackers, and of course Jays.

Aside from sharing similar traits like having strong beaks and long tails, they also share the trait of being highly intelligent. They will imitate the Red-tailed, and Red-shouldered Hawk calls. Using that talent to warn other Blue Jays that Hawks are nearby, or simply to scare other birds away. Another example of Blue Jay intelligence: In labs they have been observed working with strips of newspaper to pull food from outside their cage to a spot where it can be eaten. And early this year a series of photographs and a detailed description of an event which occurred in October 2021, were published in The Wilson Journal Of Ornithology, describing a Blue Jay breaking off a piece of tree bark and using it to extract a spider from beneath the bark of a White Pine tree (Pinus strobus) in Trumbull County, Ohio.

There is much to be appreciated in this bird which sometimes seems to be a noisy troublemaker!

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