All jay photos are my own.

I promised some time ago that I'd write a wee blog post on my second favourite birds of all... the jays - and now I'll do just that if I may.

Yes.

I admit.

Swifts are the best of all birds. Not the most beautiful or dashing (kingfishers probably would take those titles), nor the most obviously impressive (think peregrines, golden eagles etc...), nor are they the sweetest birds in Britain (oh I dunno... think robin or goldcrest or long-tailed tit).

But they are the most incredible birds we are lucky enough to have visit us in the UK each year. They're my number one (and they should be yours too... I'll have no debate thanks!)

But.

If swifts take the number one spot... what about number two (or three)?

Well... number three for me has always been the wagtail family - be they grey, yellow or pied / white. I'll blog about my fascination with them some other time.

Always at number two for me are jays - or more specifically - the Eurasian Jay... Garrulus glandarius.

Jay 2

A few jay facts to get you thinking...

• The jay's scientific name of Garrulus glandarius literally means "chatterer of the acorns". (Particularly apt as they are birds of oak woodland through and through).
• Jay 1
• They belong to the crow family (Corvidae), and indeed were originally called placed into the Corvus genus by Linnaeus, but the corvus genus now contains only "true crows" such as ravens and rooks. The old world jays have two genera of their own - Garrulus and Podoces. ( NB. American "blue jays" are "new world jays" and share their generic name of Cyanocitta with Steller's jays only). 
• Jays are thought to be one of the most intelligent of corvids - if not THE most intelligent.
• Jays were systematically shot in the 19th century for hat feathers and to protect young birds of other species (jays don't just eat acorns!)
• Jays are the most flashy of the corvids - with pink colouration, a showy crest, a black "mo" (ustache), a snow white rump and the most recogniseable UK feather of all - their bold blue/black/white alula and primary coverts.
• Feathers
• Their striking barred "alula" feathers were (you can imagine) the most HIGHLY prized of all feathers for hats in the 19th Century.
• The alula feathers are also known as the "bastard wing" feathers.
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• Jays routinely bury up to 5000 acorns each autumn.
• This means that our British jays combine to bury almost 2 BILLION acorns across this *cough* green and pleasant land, mainly in October.
• Jays are generally pretty wary... (you might be too if you'd been shot for decades) and its often difficult to get decent *cough* jpegs of these beautiful crows.
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• Jays eat a wide variety of foods (young birds, fish (yes.... fish) and newts, small rodents, cockchafers roosting on oaks, tortrix larvae, peanuts, scraps, seeds, berries...) whaddever they can get their big black, notched beaks on).
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• Jays are still "game birds" and can still be shot (legally) to protect other birds' young, but they have increased their population markedly over the past decades.
• Jays are reknowned for their very loud, raucous shriek (in fact their welsh name, 'Ysgrech y Coed' literally means "shrieker of the woods") but they have a huge repertoire of calls from soft warbles, to whistles and are exellent mimics. If they find a tawny owl roosting in the open, they'll mob it - and imitate its "twoo" (or "twit").
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• Jays are mostly sedentary birds (non migratory) but occasionally, when acorn crops fail across vast swathes of land, they'll booger off en masse to find a better crop elsewhere.  This is known as "eruptive migration" and last happened in northern Europe in 1983, when huge numbers of jays crossed the north sea after the continental acorn crop failed. (It failed here too... but the jays didn't know that at the time - they're not THAT clever!).
• This year (2012) seems to be another year when "eruptive migration" of jays from the continent seems to be occurring.
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• I've been lucky enough to "train" a pair of jays when I moved out of London to suburban Berkshire some years ago (see photo above) - and now I shall endeavour to do the same again at our new gaff  - see below.

Jays routinely (more and more) can turn up in urban, suburban and rural gardens in the UK - on the lookout for any food on offer.

Jay 3

These visits tend to peak during the breeding season (May-July), tail off as the birds start their autumn acorn caching runs and then peak again in the winter - if you want to see jays in your garden.... buy a few bags of monkey nuts, shoo away the pesky squirls and pies and you'll soon have a jay or two I reckon...

With that in mind, I am launching "Operation glandarius" today (as "Operation noctua" is now closed for the dark months).

Basically.... I have some monkey nuts, some string, some nails, a few pots and old boots and fully intend to see just how clever our daily visiting jays really are.

I'll trailcam some of the antics (if the jays play ball) and maybe get a photo or two n all... but unlike "Operation noctua", I'll not post weekly reports - I'll only blog on "Operation glandarius" if the jays meet my expectations... from time to time...

Now come on jays.... I've given you the big build up......

Jay portrait

More to come soon I hope.

TBR.