Speaking of Nature: The blue jay that stood guard: Observations during a solid week of unfettered access to the birds

Perched on the tip of the tallest spruce in the yard, this lone blue jay, puffed up against the cold and lit by the pink light of sunrise, stood guard over the area so the other birds could eat in safety.

Perched on the tip of the tallest spruce in the yard, this lone blue jay, puffed up against the cold and lit by the pink light of sunrise, stood guard over the area so the other birds could eat in safety. PHOTO BY BILL DANIELSON

By BILL DANIELSON

For the Recorder

Published: 01-07-2025 1:07 PM

The final week of 2024 was particularly calm and delightful for me. After the hustle and bustle of hosting a family gathering, my wife and I were able to nestle down into the “holiday bunker” and enjoy some much-needed R&R. For one solid week we were able to sleep as late as we wanted, drink coffee and read for as long as we wanted and basically disengage from the world in our comfortable home in the country.

Of course, this meant that I had a solid week of unfettered access to the birds. Still somewhat stuck on “teacher time,” I found myself waking up at 5 a.m. and being somewhat restless. This slowly abated over the week without any responsibilities and I eventually found that I was able to sleep until about 7 a.m. Fortunately, even this “late” hour still gave me plenty of opportunity to get ready for the arrival of the day’s first birds. That is the nice thing about winter birding; the sun doesn’t rise until such a late hour.

The rhythm of each day was quite similar. First the sparrows show up, and then the chickadees, titmice, cardinals and various woodpeckers follow them. Despite the high numbers of birds (if I’m lucky) there is a relative calm about the morning gathering right up until that special moment when the blue jays arrive. Then things get a little crazy.

After living in the same place for 20 years, and maintaining an active feeding station as close to every day of the year as I can manage, I have established a spot on the landscape that I hope the birds consider to be, “the place to be.” All sorts of different food items are available and I also do my best to provide a reliable source of water (more on that notion another time). This, combined with a certain combination of field and forest, is what can generate some pretty impressive numbers.

At one point I counted 61 mourning doves on my deck at the same time. With this many individuals feeding and moving about, I had to take photos to get an accurate count. There may have been other doves in the nearby trees, but I couldn’t see them, so I couldn’t count them. Regardless, 61 doves is a pretty epic number. It is also the sort of concentration of potential food that attracts the attention of the local Cooper’s hawks.

The Cooper’s hawk is a fairly large bird that specializes on hunting other birds. Relatively short and rounded wings with a long tail combine to give the Cooper’s hawk some exceptional maneuverability and the hawk uses this to pull of some amazing attacks on their prey. Often, they will sit on a perch and watch the surrounding area for an opportunity. Then, they will launch an attack by flying low to the ground and then ambushing their intended victim. If they miss, they are able to pursue their target for a short amount of time, but once the element of surprise it lost, it becomes more and more difficult to be successful.

With this in mind, it is no wonder that large numbers of mourning doves can become quite nervous and skittish. The slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary can cause and “explosion” of doves as they all take to the air simultaneously, which may provide a measure of protection against an attacking hawk. However, there does seem to be one thing that can calm everyone down a bit, and that turns out to be the blue jays.

It may come as no surprise that on the day that I observed 61 mourning doves at my deck, I also happened to count 22 blue jays. That, my friend, is a lot of energy in one location and the jays were an absolute riot to watch. There were certain little clusters of jays that seemed to be having quiet conversations. There were other groups of jays that seemed to be bickering and squabbling like young human brothers and sisters. There were even fights that turned even more humorous to watch when the jays accidentally wandered too close to the red-bellied woodpeckers and received an authoritative jab for their carelessness.

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But all the while, in the midst of all of this mayhem, there was a lone blue jay that had taken up a position on the tip of the tallest spruce tree. From this perch the bird had a commanding view of the entire area. The cottonwood tree that grows next to my deck is taller, but the line of spruce trees to the east of my house provides a perfect blind spot that the Cooper’s hawks can exploit for their hunting. From the top of the tallest spruce, there is nowhere that a hawk can hide.

So, while everyone else was feeding and fighting among themselves, there was one lone blue jay that decided to assume the role of the sentinel for the morning. This bird was actively scanning the area and it stayed in that same spot for so long that I was actually able to notice it, think about what it was doing, and then snap a photo. Any threat would have been detected and announced, so as long as that one bird remained quiet, everyone else could relax. The huge number of doves that morning may only have been possible because the sentinel was on duty.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 27 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.