Well, we can’t right now, but blue jays can. In fact, a group of blue jays is called a “party.” Or, maybe, it’s a different kind of party. Would blue jays caucus as democrats? Seven states have red cardinals as their state bird, but there are no blue (jay) states. (Somewhat fittingly in this vein, New Hampshire’s state bird is the purple finch.)

Whatever their political leanings, blue jays are social birds and like to hang out in groups even when they are courting. And once they have a mate, it’s a partner for life, which can be a long time. While most song birds live around 5 years, one banded blue jay in Newfoundland survived nearly 27 years! I wonder if the fact that they don’t migrate regularly or over long distances has an impact on their longevity.

Or, maybe it’s their intelligence. With ravens and crows, blue jays belong to the corvid (not to be confused with covid) family of birds, and they share the intelligence and problem solving abilities of their family members. They use objects as tools and will patiently wait out humans to get to scraps of food. Blue jays can also mimic the sounds of predators like hawks warning their brethren and other birds of the danger. Sometimes they will “cry wolf” making hawk sounds to scare other birds away from a food source. They also exhibit “anting” behavior in which they rub ants against their feathers to remove the ants’ formic acid protective shield. Formic acid protects the birds from fungi, bacteria, and mites, and its removal from the ants makes them much more tasty to the blue jays.

Do you remember the second blue bird blog? Like the eastern blue bird (and all blue-colored birds), blue jay feathers are not blue. If you grind up a blue bird feather, you will have brown dust. Red birds like cardinals have actual red pigment from the carotene in their diet in their feathers, but blue jays are blue because their feathers absorb all colors except blue. Blue is reflected “tricking” our eyes into seeing blue. Frankly, I still have trouble getting my head around this.

And speaking of appearances, male and female blue jays look alike. The males are a little larger and they behave differently during courtship, but otherwise they can’t be distinguished. With most species of birds, males and females are distinct - that’s called sexual dimorphism. Blue jays exhibit sexual monomorphism.

Blue jays aren’t everyone’s favorite backyard bird. They’re regarded by some as loud, raucous bullies around feeders, but I find them to be majestic, confident survivors. If you are in the “bad bird” camp have a look at my Bad Birds? blog or maybe check out Lesley the Bird Nerd’s video on reasons to like blue jays. Or maybe just relax and listen to Caspar Babypants sing Bad Blue Jay about a blue jay’s redemption.