While I'm here, an update for any who are interested:
This particular bird seems to not be with us any longer (we see his family a lot, but never him). However, this year his family has produced TWO clutches! The first clutch of 3 is already out of the next and foraging for their own food. The second clutch was (as of a few weeks ago) just an egg (or two or three ...) in a nest.
This is true. Unfortunately this prompts a lot of people to feed them which is against the law and generally a bad idea. Most "human food" is loaded with unnecessary things that are bad for a bird. But more importantly, jays that are fed tend to breed early (because of the "abundance" of food), but when the babies come around the grubs and insects that make up their diet aren't available yet, and they have a good chance of starving to death.
Sent a video of Blue, rescued at age 1 day old, he is now ten. No rescue service would take him. Now they have Native animal Rescue. I do not condone caging wild birds unless its a rescue and they cannot be released. The plight of the Florida Scrub is in Danger and your videos will hopefully make people aware of that plight more. NASA currently planing of building on a reserve in Florida with a population of 400 scrubs.Save the Florida Scrub Jay! Also they peck, hard, as a sign of affection. thx
This is interesting. Thanks for such great footage. I am live in Ca. and have a rescued Western scrub. He loves to do just that same thing. Pound on my head, play with my hair etc. The Scrubs here are not so friendly in the wild. People take weeks and months, and lots of peanuts to get a bird to land on them and become sociable. I know its illegal to feed them there. Do you have less predators there? Hawks, Crows, or? I have trying to determine why they are friendlier than the Western. Thanks!
Well we usually see at least a few hawks in a 2-3 hour visit, so they're definitely around. This was taken on a preserve that has a lot of trails for people to walk along, so I think the jays are used to seeing people. Some of them are clearly more social than others; almost every time we visit we spend most of our time w/ the same family of 5. There are others that we see from time to time, but none are as social as the ones in this clip. :) Last time we visited they were busy nest-building!
Yeah, I love these guys. My girlfriend and I visit them every month or so and we always see the same family (we identify them by their bands). Gorgeous animals.
The one that's busy pecking on the hat (his bands are blue-green - purple-silver) is the most determined scrub jay I've ever seen. He was fixated on that hat, and would peck and peck at the button on top of it for several minutes at a time. He did this across about 4 separate visits; we ended up having to leave the hat at home after that because he'd pecked off all the fabric and exposed the metal! I didn't want him to hurt his little beak.
LoL
That is so0o k0oL
You should edit the tags to get more views cuz this deserves it
MrHairyNutz 2 years ago
While I'm here, an update for any who are interested:
This particular bird seems to not be with us any longer (we see his family a lot, but never him). However, this year his family has produced TWO clutches! The first clutch of 3 is already out of the next and foraging for their own food. The second clutch was (as of a few weeks ago) just an egg (or two or three ...) in a nest.
Very exciting :)
tvienti 3 years ago
scrubs love nuts
kd7mxi 3 years ago
This is true. Unfortunately this prompts a lot of people to feed them which is against the law and generally a bad idea. Most "human food" is loaded with unnecessary things that are bad for a bird. But more importantly, jays that are fed tend to breed early (because of the "abundance" of food), but when the babies come around the grubs and insects that make up their diet aren't available yet, and they have a good chance of starving to death.
tvienti 3 years ago
Sent a video of Blue, rescued at age 1 day old, he is now ten. No rescue service would take him. Now they have Native animal Rescue. I do not condone caging wild birds unless its a rescue and they cannot be released. The plight of the Florida Scrub is in Danger and your videos will hopefully make people aware of that plight more. NASA currently planing of building on a reserve in Florida with a population of 400 scrubs.Save the Florida Scrub Jay! Also they peck, hard, as a sign of affection. thx
godlessandhappy 4 years ago
This is interesting. Thanks for such great footage. I am live in Ca. and have a rescued Western scrub. He loves to do just that same thing. Pound on my head, play with my hair etc. The Scrubs here are not so friendly in the wild. People take weeks and months, and lots of peanuts to get a bird to land on them and become sociable. I know its illegal to feed them there. Do you have less predators there? Hawks, Crows, or? I have trying to determine why they are friendlier than the Western. Thanks!
godlessandhappy 4 years ago
Well we usually see at least a few hawks in a 2-3 hour visit, so they're definitely around. This was taken on a preserve that has a lot of trails for people to walk along, so I think the jays are used to seeing people. Some of them are clearly more social than others; almost every time we visit we spend most of our time w/ the same family of 5. There are others that we see from time to time, but none are as social as the ones in this clip. :) Last time we visited they were busy nest-building!
tvienti 4 years ago
Yeah, I love these guys. My girlfriend and I visit them every month or so and we always see the same family (we identify them by their bands). Gorgeous animals.
tvienti 4 years ago
The one that's busy pecking on the hat (his bands are blue-green - purple-silver) is the most determined scrub jay I've ever seen. He was fixated on that hat, and would peck and peck at the button on top of it for several minutes at a time. He did this across about 4 separate visits; we ended up having to leave the hat at home after that because he'd pecked off all the fabric and exposed the metal! I didn't want him to hurt his little beak.
VvAndromedavV 4 years ago