Blue jays are songbirds that belong to the Corvidae family, which includes crows, ravens, magpies, and nutcrackers. They are intelligent and adaptable birds found throughout eastern and central North America. Blue jays have a varied diet consisting of seeds, nuts, fruits, insects, eggs, young birds, and small animals. Cicadas are large insects that emerge from the ground in great numbers after spending many years developing underground as nymphs. Periodical cicadas emerge simultaneously in massive numbers, providing a feast for predators every 13 or 17 years. The emergence of billions of large, nutritious cicadas every decade or so is a unique natural event that provides a temporary bonanza of food for a wide variety of wildlife species.
Do blue jays eat cicadas?
Yes, blue jays readily eat cicadas when they are available. Cicadas provide a high-protein meal for blue jays and their nestlings. When periodical cicadas emerge en masse, blue jays take advantage of the bounty, gorging on the large insects. They have been observed consuming both adult cicadas and the earlier nymph stage. The nymphs live underground and emerge in large numbers, crawling up trees and other structures where they will molt into winged adults. Blue jays snatch up the nymphs before they can complete this transition.
Blue jays are omnivorous and opportunistic in their eating habits. They have expanded their natural range by living near humans and taking advantage of bird feeders, gardens, and agricultural areas. Similarly, blue jays make the most of periodical cicada emergences when the insects are superabundant. Cicadas provide an excellent source of protein and fat for blue jays before and during the breeding season, allowing them to feed their nestlings and maintain their energy levels.
Blue jay feeding behavior
Blue jays have sturdy beaks that they use to crack open nuts and acorns. This allows them to access the protein-rich meat inside. They use their beaks in a similar way to cut through the hard exoskeleton of cicadas to access the soft inner body. Blue jays have also been observed catching cicadas in mid-air, demonstrating their aerial agility.
Blue jays carry cicadas in their beak to a perch where they can hold the insect down with their feet and tear it apart. They may also wedge the cicada into a tree branch or crevice to dismantle it. As social birds, blue jays may feed in family groups, enabling them to maximize their cicada consumption.
During cicada emergences, blue jays gorging on the insects will often have distended crops from their cicada-heavy diet. The crop is an enlarged portion of the esophagus used for storing food before it moves further along the digestive tract. Visibly bulging crops are a clear sign that blue jays are feasting on the emergent cicadas.
Benefits of cicadas for blue jays
Cicadas provide several key benefits for blue jays:
High-protein food source
Cicadas are a protein and fat-rich food source. This makes them an excellent source of nutrition for developing blue jay nestlings. Adult blue jays also benefit from the protein boost.
Abundant and easy to catch
When periodical cicadas emerge, they do so in huge numbers. This makes them easy for blue jays to catch. The cicadas concentrate on trees, bushes, and structures, providing ready targets for predation.
Sustained food source
Different cicada broods emerge in different years in the same region. In the Midwest, for example, different cicada broods emerge every 13 or 17 years. This means that every few years, there is a new cicada bonanza for blue jays and other wildlife.
Timing of breeding season
Periodical cicada emergences often coincide with the blue jay breeding season. This allows adults to feed protein-packed cicadas to their nestlings. The abundant food source helps baby birds grow and thrive.
| Cicada Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| High-protein food source | Cicadas provide a nutritious source of protein and fat for blue jays |
| Abundant and easy to catch | Mass emergences make cicadas easy to catch in large numbers |
| Sustained food source | Different broods provide a cicada bonanza every 13 or 17 years |
| Timing of breeding season | Cicada emergences often coincide with blue jay breeding, allowing adults to feed protein-rich cicadas to nestlings |
How blue jays catch and eat cicadas
Blue jays are crafty birds when it comes to catching and eating cicadas. Here are some of their techniques:
Aerial attacks
Blue jays will swoop down on flying adult cicadas, catching them in mid-air. Their strong beaks allow them to get a firm grip on the cicada.
Plucking from trees
Perched in trees, blue jays can snatch stationary cicadas from tree branches. The birds often perch and scout for emerging cicadas.
Ground foraging
On the ground, blue jays use their beaks to flip over leaves, sticks and debris to find developing cicada nymphs underground. They dig up and consume nymphs.
Wedging and dismantling
Blue jays wedge cicadas into branches or crevices to anchor them while tearing them apart with their sturdy beaks. This technique allows them to dismantle the hard exoskeleton.
Carrying to nestlings
Adult blue jays carry cicadas back to their nests to feed protein-rich meals to their demanding nestlings.
What do blue jays do with so many cicadas?
When cicada numbers reach the billions, blue jays have more than they can eat. Here is what blue jays do with their cicada bounty:
Gorge themselves
Blue jays will eat their fill of cicadas during emergence years. Their crop, which stores food, can become distended from consuming so many large insects.
Feed nestlings
Adult blue jays carry numerous cicadas back to their nests to sustain their growing nestlings. The high-protein insects help baby birds grow.
Store excess cicadas
Blue jays will wedge extra cicadas into tree crevices. They will return periodically to retrieve the stored food.
Leave surplus cicadas
Even voracious blue jays cannot possibly consume or store all the emerging cicadas in infestation years. Billions of the insects are left uneaten.
Adaptations that help blue jays eat cicadas
Blue jays have several key adaptations that allow them to take advantage of cicada emergences:
Large, strong beaks
Their sturdy beaks allow them to crack through the hard exoskeleton of cicadas.
Aerial agility
Blue jays can snatch cicadas out of the air as they fly around. Their aerial dexterity aids their hunting.
Food storage organ
Having a crop allows blue jays to gorge on cicadas, storing excess food for later.
Conspicuous coloring
Blue jays’ bright blue, black, and white plumage helps them spot each other as they gather around prime cicada sources.
Intelligence
Blue jays’ ability to solve problems aids their versatility in catching different species of cicadas in varied environments.
Do blue jays depend completely on cicadas?
Blue jays are omnivorous birds that consume a wide variety of foods. While they opportunistically feast on cicadas when available, they do not solely depend on periodical cicada broods for sustenance.
Diverse diet
Blue jays have a diverse diet including nuts, seeds, fruits, berries, acorns, bird eggs, small animals, and insects like beetles and caterpillars. This dietary flexibility allows them to adapt to different food sources.
Generalist survival skills
As generalist feeders rather than specialists, blue jays can survive without any one food source like cicadas. Their intelligence and adaptability let them thrive across North America.
Benefit from other insect emergences
Other insect emergences, like 17-year locusts, provide a periodically abundant food source similar to cicadas. Blue jays opportunistically feed on them as well.
Take advantage of bird feeders
With their willingness to live near humans, blue jays can access supplementary foods like bird seed and peanuts from feeders when cicadas are unavailable.
Do cicadas harm blue jays?
Cicadas do not seriously harm blue jays for a few key reasons:
Short life spans
Cicadas only live for 2-6 weeks as flying, mating adults. This limited life span gives them little opportunity to interfere with blue jay populations.
Sheer numbers
The enormous numbers of cicadas outweigh their individual threat. Even if one cicada could harm a blue jay, their safety is found in huge cicada swarms.
No stingers or venom
Unlike some insects like wasps or hornets, cicadas do not sting or inject venom that could harm a predator like the blue jay.
Nutritious food source
As a protein-rich food choice, cicadas provide excellent nourishment for blue jays rather than sickening them. Their bodies are well-adapted to digest cicadas.
No mimicry
Some toxic insects mimic color patterns to trick predators, but cicadas have no need for mimicry or warning colors given their huge numbers.
Notable cicada emergences and blue jays
Here are some recent examples of how blue jays responded to major periodical cicada emergences:
Brood XIX, 2019
In parts of Indiana, Illinois, and other midwestern states, blue jays feasted on the billions of cicadas that emerged after 17 years underground.
Brood XIII, 2024
The next large cicada brood due to emerge will be Brood XIII in 2024 across the Midwest and Northeastern states. Blue jays will presumably enjoy another bountiful cicada feast.
Brood X, 2021
In May-July 2021, Trillions of 17-year Brood X cicadas emerged from Georgia to New York. Blue jays gorged on the crunchy protein boost across the Eastern states.
Brood VI, 2025
In South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina, blue jays will get to partake in Brood VI in 2025, feeding on cicadas last seen in 2008.
Conclusion
Blue jays are intelligent, opportunistic birds that make the most of periodical cicada emergences. When the large, protein-rich insects emerge after 13 or 17 years underground, blue jays gorge on the bounty. They catch flying adult cicadas, pluck nymphs off trees, and carry them back to feed nestlings. Bulkier crops and wedging excess cicadas into crevices are signs of the blue jay cicada-eating bonanza. While blue jays eat many types of foods, the periodic boom of abundant cicadas provides an excellent nutritional boost. Cicadas do not seriously threaten blue jays due to their short life spans, lack of venom, and massive numbers. So when cicada broods periodically emerge across North America, keep an eye out for the bright blue jays benefiting from the insect protein feast.
