looduskalender.ee

 

 

Jays appear when people are not busy in the home garden, or in webcam view when there is no more movement around. The winter number is estimated at more than 100 000 individuals and from the north no particular addition arrives.  

 

They become well visible in autumn in oak stands – a great deal of the winter food stock is just there. The bird with the most eye-catching plumage of our corvids is the size of a jackdaw; plumage pinkish-grey, length up to 35 centimetres and weight a little over 150 grams. Feathers at wing joint blue-black-white. The rear part of the wings and tail feathers black. Beak black as the feathers of the beak root, eye iris pale blue, legs light brown.

 

The head feathers of an agitated jay rise to a little crest – sometimes it can be seen in the webcam too. Flight image floppy, the white rump area is eyecatching.

 

In the forest camera feeding ground the jays observe Mait’s doings – when the food for the animals has been spread out, up to 10 jays may be busy there in some days. 5-6 acorns are grabbed into the oesophagus or  “throat pouch”, the last one is taken in the beak and then away. In the flight image of ”fully loaded” jays we see that the centre of gravity is in the front part. If someone or something scares the bird most of the acorns are spilled out in flight…

 

Jay