Quick Answers
Scrub jays are generally quite friendly and intelligent birds that can become accustomed to human presence. However, like any wild animal, their behavior can be unpredictable at times. Approach with caution and allow them to become comfortable in your presence. Offering food is not recommended, as this can lead to dependency. Overall, scrub jays make for enjoyable backyard visitors when proper respect is shown!
Scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) are medium-sized songbirds found in western North America. They are known for their beautiful blue, gray, and white plumage and their loud, raspy calls. Scrub jays are highly intelligent birds that exhibit complex social behaviors and food caching strategies. As their name implies, scrub jays typically inhabit scrubby, open woodlands, suburban parks, and backyards.
These birds have adapted well to human presence and will often become accustomed to being fed by people. This has led some to wonder – are scrub jays truly friendly birds that appreciate human company? Or are they just opportunistic wildlife looking for an easy meal? In this article, we’ll explore the unique behaviors and temperament of scrub jays to find out if they can be considered “friendly” towards humans.
Scrub Jay Natural History
To understand scrub jay friendliness, it helps to first look at their natural history. Scrub jays are a member of the corvid family, which includes crows, ravens, and other intelligent species. They have complex social structures, with breeding pairs often assisted by additional “helper” birds that aid in raising young. Families remain together on established territories, cooperatively defending resources.
Young scrub jays typically leave the nest at around 18 days old but remain with their parents for an extended period, learning essential skills like finding food and avoiding predators. This long developmental time facilitates advanced cognition and memory skills which scrub jays utilize for survival. For example, they are excellent at hiding caches of food during times of abundance and retrieving them later when food is scarce. Impressively, they can remember not only the locations of thousands of caches, but also what food item is in each cache and how long it has been stored there.
The well-developed memories and social bonds of scrub jays demonstrate advanced intelligence compared to many birds. These cognitive abilities likely contribute to their ability to adapt to the presence of humans in their suburban habitats.
Backyard Behavior
When scrutinizing scrub jay friendliness, look no further than your own backyard. Homeowners commonly put out bird feeders to attract various species, scrub jays included. Offering peanuts, sunflower seeds, suet, and other favored foods will quickly draw in local scrub jays.
Initially, scrub jays may be shy and wary of approaching while you are nearby. But with time, when consistently provided with food, they will become habituated to human presence. Some individual jays can become quite bold, even perching on the feeder pole or patio furniture just feet from where you sit.
It is common for the same families of jays to routinely visit yards where they are fed. Often one or two particularly brave “lead” birds will make first contact, while others hold back at a safer distance. With repeated positive experiences of you simply going about your business while they eat, the whole group eventually learns you are not a threat.
Begging and Boldness
Once comfortable around humans, some scrub jays exhibit begging behaviors, following people around persistently vocalizing until they are tossed a peanut or other treat. They even watch closely when feeders are refilled, sometimes trying to steal new seed directly from the bag or can.
Such bold and cheeky behavior leads many to believe scrub jays actively enjoy human company. However, ecologists suggest a more pragmatic explanation. Since food provided by humans is a concentrated, reliable source compared to natural foraging, scrub jays learn to preferentially seek it out. Their social bonds and intelligence allow them to teach this behavior to others in their group. So, the appearance of friendliness may simply be opportunism.
Risks of Feeding
The enthusiasm scrub jays show for backyard feeding may seem to indicate friendliness. But there are risks associated with relying too heavily on human food sources.
Supplemental feeding can artificially concentrate jays in one area, increasing competition and disease transmission. Overabundant food can also lead to less natural foraging, altering migration patterns and nutrition.
Additionally, jays may become demanding and aggressive if feeding is suddenly stopped. They may harass people, damage property, or raid trash cans if their human food source disappears.
In some cases, boldness leads to squirting aggressive birds with hoses or otherwise deterring them. But they often return repeatedly, having lost their fear. This cycle rarely ends well for either party.
Of course, supplementary feeding in moderation has its benefits too. It allows enjoyable wildlife viewing and helps jays survive seasonal shortages. Like any human-wildlife interaction, balance is key in the backyard bird feeding relationship.
Cautions for Friendliness
While scrub jays certainly find human presence non-threatening compared to other animals, true friendship may be an overstatement. Wild creatures form symbiotic relationships around resources. But attaching human ideas of friendship, loyalty, or affection is problematic.
We must remember scrub jays are not domesticated pets, but intelligent wild animals following innate behaviors. No matter how comfortable they appear around us, unpredictability remains.
Scrub jays still sporadically demonstrate natural, protective behaviors like swooping at perceived threats to their nests. Occasional aggressive scraps also break out between jays over status disputes.
Additionally, all wild birds carry a risk of transmitting diseases and parasites. Psittacosis, salmonella, trichomoniasis, avian influenza, and external bird mites are just a few backyard bird-related illnesses. Feeding birds by hand is never recommended.
So while we can speak metaphorically of friendship, a degree of sensible caution should remain when interacting with scrub jays attracted to feeders. Appreciating them from a slight distance allows safety for both people and birds.
Signs of Distress
Relying too much on human food sources often backfires on scrub jays. Warning signs include:
- Increased conflict between jays due to resource pressure
- Risky behavior like venturing into roads or approaching dogs/cats
- Damage to property from chewing or nesting in inappropriate areas
- Ignoring natural food sources
- Poor physical condition like soiled feathers or visible parasites
- Loss of wild wariness towards humans
If such issues arise, gradually withdraw feeding over a 7-10 day period to encourage natural foraging again. Implement hazing techniques like spraying with hoses if necessary to re-establish a healthy wariness of humans. Once rebalanced, limited, seasonal feeding can resume.
Positive Interactions
When proper boundaries are maintained, scrub jays can be enjoyed for their lively personalities and beauty. Here are tips for friendly interactions:
- Use feeders designed to minimize physical contact and keep seed dry
- Place feeders in discreet locations away from doors, pets, and high traffic areas
- Clean feeders regularly to avoid disease spread
- Offer a variety of healthy seeds and suet
- Never handle jays – observe from a distance
- Stop feeding if aggressive behavior develops
- Let jays maintain their wild wariness of humans
- Educate children how to properly interact
Following these commonsense guidelines allows us to safely interact with these remarkable birds without undermining their self-sufficient natural behaviors.
Conclusion
Scrub jays are highly intelligent, adaptable birds that will readily become accustomed to human presence when provided with supplemental food sources. Their ability to learn and retain positive associations with humans in backyard environments indicates an affinity for our company. However, true friendship requires mutual understanding. While scrub jays appear to enjoy human company, they remain wild animals driven by resource availability. We must offer food and interactions conscientiously to avoid dependence. With reasonable expectations and precautions, scrub jays can become treasured backyard companions. Their fascinating behaviors and stunning blue feathers bring life and joy when they visit our feeders. Despite their occasional cheeky antics, welcoming scrub jays to our yards allows us to mutually appreciate one another.