Discussions

Hello birders,  
I have a question about the eating habits of blue jays. A few days ago I had two blue jays in my yard. I put out a few unsalted peanuts in the shell. Yesterday I put out a few more peanuts and ended up with seven blue jays feasting and hanging out in my yard for about half an hour. At that rate I knew that I would soon run out of peanuts. I bought a bag of Armstrong brand pre-shelled Wild Bird Food peanuts.  
This morning I put out a small handful of the shelled peanuts along with a few of the in the shell peanuts. The first blue jay that came along quickly gobbled up at least ten of the individual nuts. Would that blue jay have been able to carry that many nuts in its mouth to cache away in another area, or would it have swallowed the nuts without chewing them? Yesterday as I watched the jays would pick up just one peanut in the shell and carry it to a nearby tree to chew and eat the nut. They would also pick up one nut in the shell and fly away with it.  
The blue jays are also feeding from the black oil sunflower seed feeder and a suet cake, but they prefer the peanuts.

bluejays they can be bullies & piggies .  
 
you will not attract anything but BJays with peanuts but if that's the only kind of bird you want Bjays they are pretty & entertaining .  
Happy Birding

I put out unsalted peanuts in the shell and the jays usually have them gone by the end of the day. I also put out seed bells and suet blocks and attract nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, juncos. Very entertaining.

From personal experience, I suspect that a blue jay can hear and recognize the sound of a peanut bag opening from at least three blocks away, and probably more.

plane watcher said "From personal experience, I suspect that a blue jay can hear and recognize the sound of a peanut bag opening from at least three blocks away, and probably more. "

I agree lol

I do have other birds visiting too. A female hairy woodpecker was just feeding from the suet cake. It stood up for itself and pecked at a blue jay as the jay tried to come close to the suet. After the woodpecker finished feeding it flew away and the jay fed from the suet.  
The chickadees generally seem to be okay with the jays being near and they continue feeding from the sunflower seed feeder as the jays pick up dropped seeds from the ground. One particularly bossy blue jay does fly at the chickadees but they just flit away to a tree.  
The juncos that occasionally visit have not been around lately, so they may be scared of the jays. The juncos never seemed to stay for very long.  
My original question was if anyone knows about the amount of food (shelled peanuts) a blue jay can carry in its mouth. I've searched a few sites but none have referenced how much a blue jay can carry. I also wondered if they can/do swallow peanuts whole or need to chew them to digest them.

Not true about attracting only Bluejays -I feed bulk unsalted peanuts and the birds are almost waiting for me to show up. LOL  
I get 2 varieties of nuthatches, chickadees, pine siskins, 2 kinds of woodpeckers, a couple of different sparrows that all eat peanuts - -I do crack them into smaller pieces tho. The bluejays are pigs tho and will gobble up as many peanuts as they can and yes, they can hold several pieces in their beaks as well.  
 
Edited by hambone, 2018-11-29 14:28:06

The jay will open the shell and eat the pea inside.  
 
I’ve had a lot around but the last few days they’ve disappeared- must like your nuts better!

Birds can't chew, they have gizzards that crush their food for them. This is why sometimes you will also see them consuming small stones. They help the gizzard do it's work.

We only put out a few peanuts each day (morning). The crows also like the peanuts. If you've ever noticed, a blue jay will pick up a peanut in the shell, put it down, pick up another, put it down etc. etc. They are trying to pick up the heaviest nut (in the shell) [a tidbit of trivia for you]. Sometimes they will pick up their nut of choice, fly down to the ground and hide the peanut under a leaf. The squirrel will dig a small hole in the yard and hide the nut in the hole and then cover it. Lots of times the bluejay flies away to hide the nut as well. They look like they can only hold a couple of nuts in the shell in their bill, but I imagine they can fit a few shelled nuts in there. I am about to put out shelled nuts, because none of the birds are eating them from my shelled nut feeder. All I know is they are entertainment for me every day. I only have about 3 to 4 bluejays, 2 squirrels and a few crows (I guess they have to eat too). The bluejays are there every morning, asking for the peanuts (the crows too).

I too love bird watching...the only problem I have is the sparrows..my truck is parked in the back, and literally hundreds of sparrows seek shelter under my truck and on the engine block..there is a lot of bird crap on the engine etc.,which I understand can be corrosive, and pecking at sheathed wires...How do I discourage the sparrows from going under my truck...thanks

This morning there were six blue jays eating the small handful of shelled peanuts that I had put out. One jay was waiting patiently for me from 8:00 to about 8:45. After I put out the peanuts and came back inside the first jay flew down and started gobbling them up. The other jays arrived in minutes. They quickly ate all the peanuts and then just one or two jays flew in and out, eating the black oil sunflower seeds from the feeder and from the ground.  
This morning I had two new birds visit - a nuthatch and a male downy woodpecker (I think).  
 
For those of you who put out peanuts in the shell, where do you buy them? I found a 907 gram food grade unsalted at the Co-op ($7) and 2 kg bird food grade at Home Hardware ($17), but I would like to buy a larger bag as the price would probably be better in bulk.  
It's more entertaining to watch the jays choose and then work at emptying a peanut from the shell than it is to watch them just gobble up the already shelled nuts.

Peavey Mart has regular shell peanuts for birds and such. 10 lbs. (4.53 kg) for $25.99.  
 
https://www.peaveymart.com/Peanuts-In-Shell-Bird-Feed-10-lb-P2979.aspx  
 
Bulk Barn also has them, but you'd have to call for current kg pricing.  
 
https://www.bulkbarn.ca/en/Products/All/Peanuts-In-shell-Dry-Roasted-and-Unsalted-182  
 
Lots of fun watching those birds!

I’ve put out a mix of unsalted peanuts (in the shell) and haven’t seen any blue jays yet, but hope to!! The nut hatchers will poke a hole in the shell until they get the peanut

Are so fun to watch!