What Do Blue Jays Eat?

Blue Jays are undoubtedly the most colorful birds with beautiful features and they are known to be intelligent and adaptable. The scientific name for this bird is Cyanocitta cristata.

These loudest birds are mostly seen in North America and they are such a popular species that there is a Canadian baseball team who have their name after these birds-“Toronto Blue Jays”. 

Blue jays can consume almost anything. They are the omnivore species that eat approx 75% of fruits and vegetables. They also preferred to eat nuts. Because of their strong bills, they can easily break nuts and crush the seeds. They also eat airborne insects, caterpillars, etc. Their food and diet will be discussed later in this article.

Habitat of Blue Jays

Blue jays are found mainly in North America and live all over Canada and most parts of the United States. They are also seen in southern Mexico. Blue jays are generally found on oak and pine woods, suburban gardens, towns, and groves. These birds are often common in well-wooded suburbs and city parks.

What do blue jays eat?

Blue jays can eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, and also airborne insects, mainly dragonflies, crickets etc. Therefore they are known as omnivores. Their favorite food is acorns. Hence here are some of the healthiest and favorite foods they eat.

1. Nuts

Finding nuts can be easy for them and the easiest part is to crack them with their powerful bills. Nuts are the healthiest food for these beautiful, and gorgeous birds. They can grab the whole peanut with their feet and then crack them and open them with the help of their beaks. This show of them eating nuts looks very cute and amazing.

2. Seeds

These gorgeous birds love to eat seeds but not all seeds can fit well with them. They eat black oil sunflower seeds. They can easily crush the sunflower seeds and eat them. 

3. Fruits and vegetables

This healthy and nutritious food is a favorite of blue jays and among them, they enjoy eating berries, cherries, grapes, etc. Some of the fruits they love:

• Elderberries
• Blueberries
• Cranberries
• Raspberries

Not only these but there are more foods that blue jays eat. Here are some of the foods which blue jays eat:

• Spiders
• Insects
• Nuts
• Grains
• Seeds
• Snails
• Eggs
• Frogs
• Rodents
• Fruits
• Acorns(their favorite)

If you have blue jays in your yard and thinking about what you can feed them then here are some favorites of them you can feed:

• Suet
• Nuts or seeds(you can order them online)
• Peanuts, hazelnuts, etc
• Leftovers of small meat pieces especially during winter times

And for their drinking sources, you can give them water in small concave leaves or a pot. They drink a lot more water than other birds, mostly in the summer.

Also, know Can Hamsters swim?

What adults feed baby blue jays?

Baby blue jays eat the same thing as the adults, but as the adult can crack and eat harder foods, babies cannot consume hard food, therefore they eat softer stuff like insects and fruits. Babies have not that strong of bills to crack nuts and acorns.

How do the Blue Jays eat?

Blue jays can easily eat hard foods. They hardly leave anything to waste. After eating their food, leftover remains are stored in their throat pouch. Then they will cache all the leftover foods around their territory or the region where they live.

Most probably on trees, rocks, or another safe storable place. So caching is the way blue jays store their food and eat them later. Some foods like acorns, nuts, beechnuts, hazelnuts, etc., are stored or cached by blue jays throughout their lifetime.

Blue jays mainly cache food for winter times, when they don’t need to go out and search for food. Blue jays caches are generally spread over their territory range or a few miles.

How do Blue jays hunt?

Blue jays are fast predators who can hunt fast-moving insects like dragonflies and more and can catch them with its beak. They also feed insects and arthropods from the forest trees or ground, hopping on the leaves and trees. 

Blue jays hunt flexibly and they are skilled hunters and feeders. Catching insects and feeding on them is an easy task for blue jays.

Some FAQs about blue jaybirds and their foods

There are many FAQs regarding blue jays diet and nutrients. So here are some doubts and their answers.

Do blue jays eat other birds?

Yes, blue jays eat other birds smaller than them, especially the nesting of small songbirds. But they do so in the last stage when they don’t have any food supplies remaining or when they can’t find food. Because blue jays prefer to consume insects and arthropods, these smaller birds are their last stage option.

Do blue jays eat apples?

Well, blue jays don’t eat much fruit, and talking about apples then they are not really like them to eat. There are many more foods filled with nutrients that are preferred by blue jays.

Do blue jays eat acorns?

Acorns are something that blue jays love to eat and they are their main diet during summer as acorns are the most abundant food in the summer months.

Do blue jays eat worms?

Blue jays regularly eat these kinds of small creatures which are found on forest floors or trees, mainly worms, caterpillars, small insects, etc. So basically blue jays can consume anything smaller and softer in texture.

Conclusion

Blue jays have a lifespan of 7 years. These birds are extremely territorial. The blue jays seem very gorgeous but are very loud. They eat almost anything and will store the leftovers to eat during winter times. Some wild blue jays also can digest cellulose.

So if you want to attract blue jays you can easily do that by bringing up their favorite foods like mealworms, nuggets, sunflower seeds, or acorns. The more food you provide in your yard the more blue jays will be attracted and feed on your food source.