Blue jay Facts

About the blue jay

Look for a blue crest, a white chest and belly, and a black U-shaped collar around the neck, with a black border behind the crest. Both sexes match in size and color, and the plumage stays the same all year. Blue jays live over much of the central and eastern United States and southern Canada, breeding in both leafy and evergreen forests, and they are common in neighborhoods too.

Seeds and nuts make up most of the diet, including acorns that a jay may hide and come back for later. It also eats soft fruit, arthropods and sometimes small vertebrates, picking food off the ground, shrubs and trees or grabbing insects in the air. Both parents build an open cup nest on a branch. Clutches hold two to seven bluish or light brown eggs with darker spots.

Did you know?

• Blue jays can be very aggressive toward other birds and sometimes raid their nests.
• The name jay comes from the bird's noisy, chatty nature.
• Four subspecies of blue jay have been recognized.