how do I attract mockingbirds and blue jays to my feeders
plantnut65
9 years ago
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lazy_gardens
9 years agobluegirl_gw
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Blue Jay Go Away
Comments (10)Hello All, I am new, but I will do what I usually do and jump in with both feet! I am happy that you are a peaceful man, hope that this helps. I don't know of a blue jay repellant, but I can offer some information for you in addition to that already provided by the others. I also came up with a couple of alternative bird you could dislike instead of the jay. One alternative is the Europian Starling, introduced by man, and began to spread over the whole country. They compete aggressively with native birds for nesting. Birds are in enough trouble from of loss of habitat from mankind. (you can prevent them from taking up residence in your birdhouses by making the entrance 1 1/2 " or less so they can't get inside the joint.) The Cowbird is another alternative to bluejay loathing. It sneaks into other bird's nests and lays it's eggs, making the other bird do all the work. The field guide called it parisitizing and the cowbird affects about 144 species altogether and some are threatened with extinction altogether. The cowbird is only doing what it has always done, only we changed the playing field and the combination is lethal. Back to the BlueJay. The jays fly around in courtship flocks in the spring follow the leader style and give a variety of calls. (acording to Stokes Field Guide these flocks are made up of several males and leading the way one female. When they land the males start bobbing raising their whole body up and down, while giving the "toolool" call. Good News, they are quiet during breeding. They also dive bomb hawks giving jay calls. I don't know if a "scarehawk" would work, it would scare off the other birds too and you don't want that. One more thing you could try, is to lure the jay to another area of your yard. The jay eats acorns, nuts, fruit, and it comes to feeders for sunflower seed and cracked corn. You could put sunflower seed (black oil I think) and cracked corn on a feeder away from your window. That might work. Good luck to you, I hope I wasn't too long winded for you all. Happy Birding! Bitsy In the end, I would say the best thing to do is to get some earplugs and find some common ground. You could even learn to not despise the jay....See MoreWanting a blue jay, getting a grackle...
Comments (9)Kittysmith's vocal discription sounds like a European Starling to me. Those of us familiar with the Common Grackle know it's song is little more than the sound of a rusty hinge. Being human, there are definitely things that I don't care to have on my property. Right now the Japanese beetles are terrible, I can't remember a July without them. If I never see rats again it will be fine with me. European starlings and house sparrows are little more than feathered vermin. We can either discourage these birds and have a greatly improved environment or live in a "Polyanna" world, its a choice each one of us has to make. Sam...See MoreIs it a bad idea to attract blue jays?
Comments (42)frmbritt - it's best if you start a new post/thread. You'll get more responses. Feeding birds can become a challenge when certain birds dominate your feeders. I struggle with this too (I get a lot of blackbirds). To prevent doves you need feeders they can't use. I could suggest a tube feeder with perches. The fat doves can't land on the perches. They also have tube feeders and suet feeders with cages around them. This prevents bigger birds from entering and allows smaller birds access (like a bluebird). The not so fun part is buying new/more feeders. I'm going thru this now.... Just when I thought I was good on feeders, now I'm buying caged feeders, and they aren't cheap....See MorePlatform feeder for Blue Jays - how big
Comments (1)i have one old hopper feeder that just had a rail around the bottom. the birds were scattering more stuff than they were eating. so i took the metal lid off an old pasta pot about 12 inches in diameter. drilled holes and bolted it to the bottom of the feeder and it gives me a 4 inch rim around the feeder and the doves and jays and even the smaller birds perch on it to eat. the holes in the base of the hopper i enlarged so that the shelled peanuts and the corn would flow out of the hopper into the lid which is turned upside down making a tray. now i use a mix of seeds and cracked corn and nuts and even the large striped sunflower seeds so there is a variety for different birds...See Moreplantnut65
9 years agobluegirl_gw
9 years agoambermolholm
9 years agopaulo_verde (San Antonio)
9 years agobigack
9 years agoalbert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
9 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
9 years agoOlychick
3 years ago
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Lorna1949