I’m watching 14 blue jays mobbing my birdfeeder. There are two reasons I suspect they’re transient.
First, I rarely get that many at once. Second, they’re not choking down 50 sunflower seeds at a time. If these jays were year-round residents, they’d be carrying off as much food as possible, and stashing it in secret places for sustenance later in winter.
No matter. What a fine opportunity to watch too many jays grabbing too few seeds. I currently have only one sunflower seed feeder and one suet feeder in the backyard.
I have two Nyjer feeders hanging, but even the goldfinches are ignoring them. That’s strange, too. The thistle-like feed is usually their favorite, but they’re turning up their noses at it lately.
That is, if they had noses.
Every jay appears to be equally hungry. They’re muscling in to grab bites of seed and suet at every opportunity, taking turns as needed. If one lingers too long, a rival is sure to challenge.
I’m witnessing a case study in how birds interact during a feeding frenzy. There’s a lot of aggression, but nobody’s getting hurt. Perhaps humans could learn a thing or two from birds.
For starters, every jay has its crest raised. Crests are a communication tool for many bird species. I’ve had three tufted titmice coming in this week, and their crests are raised as well.
A raised crest typically shows an aggressive posture. It’s not necessarily a warning of attack. It may just show a willingness to defend.
Around the feeders, the gloves are off and they’re ready to rumble. Each of these 14 blue jays can judge at a glance the attitude of their potential opponent.
There are 10 mourning doves in the yard. They prefer to forage for dropped seeds on the ground, but they pop up onto the platform feeder whenever they like.
The blue jays have their relationships with each other figured out, but they’re clearly troubled by the doves. Raising crests and pointing bills at the doves have no effect.
The doves won’t put up with blue jay bullying. They flick their wings at any jay that encroaches, backing it off.
The jays do have one advantage. They like suet. The doves don’t.
When a dove occupies the sunflower seed feeder, the jays will bide their time on the suet feeder. In fact, often they eat suet even when seeds are available — another sign that this flock of jays isn’t likely to hang around my yard all winter. Suet provides extra energy, but it’s hard to hide. Seeds are transportable and easily hidden, for jays that intend to stick around.
All the jays and all the doves look alike. I wish I could color-code them, so I could better understand what is going on. Is there a pecking order? Are males or females more dominant?
Occasionally one jay or one dove dominates the feeder, pushing off competitors. This dominance doesn’t last long. It wastes energy, and there’s no reason to keep it up once their bellies are full.
Furthermore, several birds may alight at once, outnumbering the bully. In this case, each bird occupies a corner, within reach of the seeds but not each other. It’s a tense standoff that doesn’t last very long.
The red-bellied woodpeckers come and go whenever they please. They barge onto the suet feeder, displacing any bird that may be on it. None dares challenge them, and they take no notice of other species.
Hairy woodpeckers also barge in to feed. But downy woodpeckers are tiny, and must wait their turns.
The woodpeckers aren’t yet visiting the suet all that much. It remains an abnormally warm season — or maybe this is the new normal, since 2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record.
All of “my” woodpeckers seem to be finding plenty of natural food, without having to bother with the suet.
Likewise, the chickadees, nuthatches and titmice are visiting only sporadically. They also seem well-nourished. Judging by the impressive number of squirrels in my yard, the oaks, pines and firs produced a prodigious amount of food this fall.
It may seem like all these feeder birds are antagonists. In reality, they’re all part of a backyard society, dependent on each other.
When not arguing over a morsel, the jays and doves circle the neighborhood, looking for food and watching for trouble together. In turn, they depend on the chickadees to provide early warnings of danger.
Who knew that feeder-watching could be so dramatic?
