Here's a shot of a gorgeous adult Blue Jay under our feeders. The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a North American jay, a 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.

Blue Jays reside 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. 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 occasionally aggressive behavior at feeding stations, plus a reputation for occasionally destroying the nests and eggs of other birds, has made the Blue Jay unwelcome at some bird feeders. However, these are clever and adaptable birds who are good survivors and have adapted well to human presence. They are particularly fond of peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Did you know:
Blue Jays, as a member of the Corvid family are related to crows! Also, as with other blue-hued birds, the Blue Jay's coloration is not derived by pigments, but is the result of light refraction due to the internal structure of the feathers; if a Blue Jay feather is crushed, the blue disappears as the structure is destroyed. This is referred to as structural coloration.