Blue Jay breakfast

These two blue jays are part of a flock of about eight that visit my feeders regularly, throughout the year. In spring and summer they bring their babies around to teach them how to open sunflower seeds.

It's comical to watch the babies, as big or bigger than their parents who are worn out with finding food for their hungry young. These demanding youngsters flutter their wings and mew like kittens with their beaks wide open waiting for a mouthful.

Sometimes a parent will pick one up off the ground and stuff it in the baby's open beak, then go back to foraging for itself. The baby though is usually relentless until the parent finally says enough and flies off leaving the little one - make that the fat one - to follow or take care of itself. Sometimes the baby will get the message and drop to the ground to pick up a seed and swallow it or crack it open, but in the early stages of "weaning" usually it will follow mum or dad, mewing away hopefully.

I've had many an entertaining moment watching the interplay. In this image the jays are just sitting on the feeder enjoying the sun and shelter since this particular feeder is protected by the drive shed from north winds and by near by trees and bushes from every other kind of wind... a neat place to be in cold winter weather, and lovely too in spring and fall.