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The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta
cristata) is a North American jay, a handsome bird with predominantly
lavender-blue to mid-blue feathering from the top of the head
to midway down the back. There is a pronounced crest on the head.
The colour changes to black, sky-blue and white barring on the
wing primaries and the tail. The bird has an off-white underside,
with a black collar around the neck and sides of the head and
a white face. Distribution mapIt occurs over a very large area
of the eastern side of North America from Newfoundland in the
northeast to Florida in the southeast and westward to Texas and
the mid-west and eastern Colorado in the north. It is mainly a
bird of mixed woodland, including American beech and various oak
species, but also of parks and gardens in some towns and cities.
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West of the Rockies, it is replaced by the closely related Steller's
Jay. Its food is sought both on the ground and in trees and
includes virtually all known types of plant and animal sources,
such as acorns and beech mast, weed seeds, grain, fruits and
other berries, peanuts, bread, meat, eggs and nestlings, small
invertebrates of many types, scraps in town parks and bird-table
food. Its aggressive behavior at feeding stations as well as
its reputation for occasionally destroying the nests and eggs
of other birds has made the Blue Jay unwelcome at some bird
feeders.Any suitable tree or large bush may be used for nesting
and both sexes build the nest and rear the young, though only
the female broods them.
001.jpg courtesy the Us Fish and Wildlife Service. 002.jpeg,
003.jpeg, and 004.jpg courtesy the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
005 & 006.jpg courtesy of the Us Fish and Wildlife Service
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