Wintering jays may eat paint chips off house

My father taught me to appreciate the beauty of nature. He would always call my attention to sunsets, interesting cloud formations, or the birds in our urban neighborhood.

As do many city and suburban neighborhoods, ours had populations of European house sparrows and starlings, house finches, pigeons, robins, the occasional cardinal, and the ubiquitous blue jays, which were my father’s favorites. They always reminded him of fall, he said. Their raucous shouts evoked memories of blazing red, orange, and yellow trees against a background of a deep blue sky on a clear, crisp day.

I was reminded of this when someone remarked to me the other day that blue jays seem to be a “fall bird.” Others have said this to me as well. It seems the jays’ conspicuous behavior during this season has led some people to believe they are only around at this time.

Blue jays are just as noisy and noticeable during courtship in spring, but once mating and nesting commences, they undergo a personality change. Now silent and secretive, they skulk through trees, effectively vanishing from the radar for a few months. As the young fledge it becomes obvious the jays haven’t disappeared from the area, as their begging calls begin to draw attention. Once fall arrives, they gather in boisterous, noisy flocks, which often travel widely in search of mast (acorns, beechnuts, etc.) to gather and store for winter. It’s little wonder this behavior change makes it seem as if they’d been absent for a period of time.

There is more to the autumnal “appearance,” however. Formerly thought to be non-migratory, blue jays have been found to migrate to some extent, but this has not been found to be a uniform behavior among populations. Some birds may migrate, while others remain in an area or region year-round; some birds may migrate one year but remain sedentary the next. Although it has not been proven, research suggests that northern birds may be losing the tendency to migrate because of the increase in food provided by humans.

And speaking of human-connected behavior: In the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s summer 2001 issue of “Birdscope,” an article mentioning house paint pilfering by blue jays caught my attention. It seemed that in years with abundant, long-lasting snowfall, numerous reports began surfacing of blue jays chipping the paint off houses and eating it. They were doing this to get calcium (contained in paint), which is deficient in soils in the Northeast and made additionally inaccessible by a deep snow pack. The solution? Provide eggshells – sterilized (by boiling for 10 minutes or heating for 20 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit) and crushed “into pieces smaller than a dime.”

My question is: How did the jays know house paint contains calcium? No matter what the answer, this behavioral adaptation is one more example of their resourcefulness. Think of that the next time you see them in the autumn landscape – and put out the eggshells.

NEWS bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net