Fox Hill Birds – The Jay

“Jay, Jay, plant me an acorn.
‘I will plant you a thousand acorns’.
Acorn, acorn, grow me an oak.
‘I will grow you an oak that will live for a thousand years’.” – Robert Macfarlane

If you are lucky enough to spot one, Eurasian Jays are nearly unmistakable for any other bird, however these secretive woodland birds are more often heard than seen!

The Jay is the most colourful member of the Corvid (Crow) family with their predominantly pinkish/brown plumage, black tail, flashing white rump and gorgeous electric-blue wing stripes. 

They also seem far more at home in the tree canopy than other crows. If you manage to watch one moving about the trees in Fox Hill you will notice that they are very nimble, jumping from branch to branch much more like the colourful parrots they resemble than their awkward monochrome magpie cousins.  

During the Autumn months you will most likely see them flying up from the ground where they have been busy looking for food or more likely burying acorns. If you disturb one, it will almost certainly launch into the air with a sharp, piercing “scraak” warning call—a sound that is, unfortunately, nowhere near as attractive as their plumage!

In spite of their piercing alarm call, Jays are marvellous mimics and have been recorded mimicking other birds including buzzards and owls and even car alarms!

Jays are omnivores, eating a variety of insects, birds eggs and small mammals as well as fruits and nuts, like acorns. In fact their Latin name Garrulus glandarius is very apt meaning “chattering chough of acorns”.

Jays are sometime known as ‘accidental foresters’ because of their habit of burying acorns in the Autumn to eat during the Winter. One bird can bury up to 3000 acorns during a year! Crucially, they bury them at the exact depth required for successful germination. The acorns they fail to retrieve almost certainly grow into the next generation of our great British oaks.

Fun Fact!
The jay certainly lives up to its Scottish Gaelic name, Screachag choille, which translates perfectly to “screamer of the woods”!