Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
General characteristics
Garrulus glandarius is a widely dispersed species of the crow family (Corvidae) that covers a large geographical region stretching from Western Europe to the eastern seaboard of Asia. The Latinate genus term, Garrulus, means noisy and chattering; the secondary term, glandarious, means “of acorns”, pertaining to the Jay’s habit of favouring acorns as part of its diet, a food the bird habitually stores over winter, although it does take to other common garden bird foods such as peanuts and seed mixes.
It’s exterior is a blend of pink and brown (a pinkish-brown), with an underbelly slightly paler, but of a similar hue; the wings are primarily black with some white patches and a striking blue-black striped feature, making them quite easy to spot in the garden.
They are resident in the UK all year round apart from northern areas of Scotland and the west coast of Ireland, altogether numbering approximately 170,000 breeding pairs (RSPB). Over winter, due to harsher winters and lower stocks of acorns, Jays do sometimes appear in the UK from northern Europe in “irruptions”, or sudden bursts of large flocks.
Jays nest and breed in large shrubs, laying typically between 4 – 6 eggs that have an incubation period of approximately 16 – 19 days. Both male and female Jays feed the young.
What do Jays like to eat?
Jays are vociferous acorn eaters, although they do enjoy seeds and insects, and have been known to consume small mammals such as fledgling birds and bats; Often they will take blackberries and rowan berries, and sometimes discarded kitchen scraps. In the years preceding 1998, Jays rarely ever ventured into gardens; however, because of recent depleted stocks of acorns, it’s now possible to observe them quite frequently in the garden.
One specific characteristic of the Jay is their habit of hoarding and storing acorns for the winter period. Such behaviour has been linked to their high capacity and intelligence for anticipating different situations i.e. foresight and planning, a behaviour which distinguishes the Jay from other common garden birds. Research has shown that Jays can hoard and retrieve several thousand acorns over winter.
Because of their preference for acorns, it is often possible to find Jays residing near oak trees; in fact, coniferous and deciduous forests with an abundance of oak trees, and therefore a goldmine of acorns, will likely be home to a number of resident Jays.
What do Jays sound like?
The Jay is famed for its sharp rasping voice, which is pronounced when flitting from tree to tree in dense woodland areas. Should you hear it, look also for a white rump moving through the air, as this is usually a clear sign of a Jay. In the garden, Jays sometimes display an alarm call, which can be heard as a kind of “krar, krar” sound.
Aside from this, another aspect of intelligent behaviour is the Jay’s ability to mimic quite closely the sound of other birds; these mimics have been noted to be so similar to that of other bird species’ calls, it is almost impossible to tell them apart.
Intelligence of the Eurasian Jay
Jays are masters of planning, with incredible foresight and a depth of self-control unseen among many other birds species. What some people have called a purely robotic form of behaviour, something instinctive and hard-wired, rather than consciously processed (i.e. referring to the storing acorns for later consumption), scientists have revealed, through various ingenious experiments, a contradiction to this thinking.
In one such experiment, Jays were faced with a series of different foods (peanuts, raisins etc) to see if they could be sorted and stored onto various different trays. This the Jays did, showing a level of anticipation not before seen. The food was stored for later consumption, similar to cooking food for each lunch time over the following working week.
Other forms of intelligence displayed by Jays:
- The giving of gifts: showing an awareness of the feelings of others. As part of their mating rituals, Jays have been reported to anticipate future needs by taking into account the desires of their future partner(s).
- Foresight, planning and anticipation
- The use of tools
- An excellent level of mimicry and vocalisation: Jays can express a range of emotions such as anger, playfulness and affection
- Object permanence: understanding that objects exist even though they can’t see them, a skill that takes humans an entire year to master
- Gregariousness, sociability and the skill to form complex alliances and coalitions, similar to chimpanzees and dolphins
The crow and the pitcher
The Intelligence of the Corvidae family was observed 2,500 years ago by the famous Greek fabulist, Aesop. Here’s the tale, taken from the BBC website, about the crow and the pitcher:
One day, after a spell of hot weather which has dried up all the streams and ponds, the crow fears it will die of thirst. Coming upon a pitcher of water left in a garden, the crow tries to drink from it, but there is only a little water left in the bottom, and his beak can’t reach it. Having thought for a while, the crow hits upon the solution of dropping in pebbles until the water level rises sufficiently for him to drink.
The moral is: little by little does the trick
Jay vs Hoopoe
It is common for amateur birdwatchers to confuse Jays and Hoopoes, which are only ever passage visitors on the southern coast of England. See the difference below.

Hoopoe – Upupa epops

Jay – Garrulus glandarius
Interactive Jay
Recommended Jay food
High quality, recent crop, aflatoxin-tested wild bird peanuts. Rich in fibre, fat and protein, they are a nutritious year-round food for a wide range of garden birds.
Dried mealworms are the perfect nutritional food for your garden birds. Ideal for attracting species such as Blue tits, Starlings and Blackbirds.
This hugely popular bird seed mix has been at the forefront of GardenBird for many years. A top seller, the inspiration came from a missing link in the bird food chain – a blend focussed on oil-rich ingredients.
These highly nutritious and oil-rich sunflower hearts for wild birds come without the husks of complete sunflower seeds.
Very interesting, I enjoy reading about the various different birds, thank you. Also I live in Leziate, Norfolk and I had a Hoopoe in my garden, 24/10/16.
These posts are interesting and informative, as well as beautiful. It would be good to have the complete series in book form. Are there any plans to do this?
Very interesting. I have 4-5 jays come to feed in my garden when I refill the feeders.They appear to have a “pecking”order and await their turn .They soon see off the Jackdaws should they attempt to eat the peanuts.Amusing to watch.
they are the worst of the crow family for destroying eggs & chicks which they will hang around & snatch even when they have left the nest or are leaving the nest box ,they are an absolute menace ,That I will not tolerate ,along with the rest of the crow family ,has said in the article they are everywhere now , any one that doesn’t agree ,though .learn about birds ,There are far too many Predators .
Hi can you tell me if there are any differences between male and female Jays , i cant seem to find any information as to if there’s are any differences even if there are any.
Thank you
Interesting reading:) I’m normally not very interested in birds but I just saw a jay eat a sparrow which I thought wasn’t normal behavior. He had just caught it cause the sparrow was still twitching. He separated the body from the head and put it to the side on the branch he was sitting on, then he took the body and put that to the other side. Then he pitcked up the head and ate that first, and when I looked away for a second he was gone with the sparrow. Fascinating!! What a shame I didn’t have my phone on me:)
Anyway, I now know that that is not totally uncommon:)
Hi, how common are green jays in the UK? I have tried to find information but can only find info from USA… Texas in particular. I spotted a green jay in the garden at work yesterday. South Wales