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
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.
Lovely to see a jay in my garden this morning while I was having my morning cuppa. I live just outside Reading, UK
Have regally now have a single jay coming into our garden, it is quite shy and the resident blackbird has chased it off on a couple of occaisons
Have a Jay coming in too the garden regularly in Devon. But the pigeons chase of.
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 .
Thanks for this site showing me that the bird I’ve just seen in the garden is a jay
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 I live in Portugal abd we have three huge oak trees in our garden and there are hundreds of acorns everywhere so we have several jays collecting them but today I saw a Jay chase a small a very small bird he caught it in flight I got my binoculars which are always at hand and wztched in dismay as the Jay dissect it and ate it.I did know they raided birds nests and ate the fledglings but not that they would catch and eat one in flight and obviously this one was not a fledgling.
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
I have 3 Jays in my garden but one of them has a pure white head and face ? Any ideas please
2nd March 2019, saw a Jay in my garden today. I live on the east coach of ireland
hi i have just taken a photo of 2 jays in my garden in nottingham,first time ever i have seen one ,they are lovely .
I can always tell if a Jay visits our garden as our canary in his cage next to the window gives an alarm call that I’ve never heard him make for any other bird.
Jays in our garden frequently. Fly on our bedroom windowsill every morning to take currants which we leave for a very friendly blackbird and his mate, West Midlands
Wow just seen one now perched on my garden birdfeed. First time Ive ever seen one. Birmingham Midlands
Seen a Jay in my garden today , lovely colours I live 10 miles North of Belfast
Was out in garden Saturday morning, when the weather let up, and saw a flash of blue go into the oak tree opposite my house. Carried on gardening for a bit and whilst I was there it came to within about 6 feet of me, flitted around the garden for a bit then headed back to the oak tree. Unfortunately a bit to quick and as I took my phone out to get a photo it had gone. First time I have seen a Jay in my garden, lived here in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, for 6 years and only usually get sparrows, bold robins and starlings which used to nest under the eaves of my roof till last year when I had the fascias replaced. I often get Red Kites flying above my house as well as they’re quite populous in the Chilterns which isn’t far away. Will definately keep an eye out for the Jay’s in the future.
We saw a lovely bouncy happy Jay in our garden in Southend-on-sea, never seen one so close before, hope they come back, will get some nuts :-)
I’ve had a jay visit my garden (Nottingham area) for the past 3 days. Today I watched it visit the bird table….seed, peanuts, mealworms on there… and then fly into the laburnum tree above it. I was fascinated to see its behaviour there; it collected a small seed pod then repeatedly tucked it into leaves and twigs, look or move away, then retrieve it. I’m wondering if this is a young bird that is practising storing potential acorns, and remembering where they’ve been hidden! It finally flew away, still with the seed pod in its beak. Presumably it knows that laburnum is poisonous….I hope so!
We have a Jay living in the woodland at the back of our house, we have berry suet in a bird feeder and he always settles on the feeder, not been able to get a picture yet, we live in the Midlands.
We have had a Jay in our garden first time I’ve seen one, been told that it landed on a neighbours head one day. We think it is only young as it will come up close to us think I’ll get some food for it, I would like to have it around for a while such a lovely looking bird.
We have a Jay visit our garden regularly again. I have noticed it is very wary of other birds and noises ,when it comes. I have put mealworms, peanuts a suet out and seems to be enjoying it. Unfortunately as soon as the Magpies and Jackdaws appear he disappears.
Just coming back from a cycle ride and saw a baby jay fledgling sitting at the bottom of the cycle bridge in Farnborough. As I approached it to see if it was okay it fluttered off into the bushes. I hope its parents were around. I guess it must have hatched around the shortest day ! Is this climate change in action ?
First time we have had a Jay visit the garden… The Jay was eating from a ground feeder which contained mixed seed, worms,sunflower seeds and peanut knibs so I’m sure there was something to please it. We live in North Cardiff.
Pic of a lovely Jay enjoying the peanuts in the garden bed. Reading, UK
We have a lovely jay visit our balcony. Loves dried mealworm and peanuts. Doesn’t seem particularly fazed by sharing the space with magpies or wood pigeons either.
Just had a pair of jays in my garden, outskirts of Sheffield such beautiful birds.
I have just filmed a Jay eating a small bird in my apple tree, he dissected it then left the bits he didn’t want, cleaned his beak and flew off. I filmed this for over five minutes
This I filmed in Tayside Perthshire.
A rare visit from Mr. Jay to my Terrace on the outskirts of Brighton high above Preston Park Station.
He was very watchful and sat for a good ten minutes enjoying the view !
The other birds had eaten the Sultanas I usually put out on the terrace so I hope he will come
back soon to partake of my offerings to my Feathered Friends.
Crows, Magpies, a Baby Seagull and a Blackbird are regular Visitors.
I was too afraid of scaring Mr Jay off by taking a photograph, so hope he will return soon.
Enjoyed the other accounts posted on your Website !
I have a Jay bird in my garden which has been there for about 3 weeks now.
I live near Glasgow and didn’t think Jay Birds came to Scotland is this correct?.
We have two pairs of Jays that we feed by the house, along with various other birds, some of them are quite tame. Sadly today we have found a lot of feathers including some with blue on them, which implies we are now one short. A Single one was coming in for food still, very sad.
Have just had a visit by one of our local Jay pair, with two fledglings! One of the young was begging for food still, but they were both quite good at flying. I think they were being shown where to acquire eggs! They headed off to a tree with multiple pigeon nests. This is central Cambridge.
We have a baby Jay who has become quite tame he came and sat outside my patio window this evening staring in at me so beautiful
The two Jays tgat have visited my garden abundantly this year are most of my Pears. I was shocked to see them in my pear tree thoroughly enjoying the fruit. They also like all the seed etc mentioned too.
Rachel
A jay has recently become a regular visitor to my garden in Plymouth. Very beautiful to look at but I have noticed that the smaller birds who usually frequent my garden are noticeably absent. Has the Jay frightened them off…?
We had a Jay visit yesterday as a lovely Christmas present. The first time I’ve ever seen one. Beautiful! (Nottingham).
Jay near st Mary’s church Northolt North west London. A few of them actually.
I have 3 Jays who come to eat nuts and meal worms and seeds. They prefer to eat alone and fly away if other birds or the squirrels appear. I’m in Slyne Lancaster.
A pair of Jays building a nest in a neighbour’s shrub (only 15 feet high) and using building material from my other side neighbours tree. Getting a Jay fly past every few minutes – lovely sight as I can look down on them and see that wonderful blue/white flashing.
I have a pair of Jays. They come daily with the exception of recently. Nothing has changed in terms of food I provide the birds etc or the environment. Should I be worried or are they merely tending to their young and aren’t around as much?
I am on holiday in Gunnislake, Cornwall and have just seen my very first Jay… what a beautiful bird.
Heard lots of sqwaking in garden two magpies getting angry with the jay ..never seen on e before beautiful..im in Great Yarmouth norfolk
I am in the Algarve, Portugal, near the Atlantic coast. I have a couple of dozen almond trees and have to get the timing pretty accurate for harvesting as the jays otherwise will have ALL of them – they put a hole straight through the nut on the tree, by the dozens. Walnuts next.
Wrong, a female blue jay lived to be 23 years old and 6 months in captivity, not 7 or 17. 2 years is normal especially here in Washington State
We have had a hat today ,it came to eat our bird mixture in our garden.I am 70 yrs old and have never seen one before to my knowledge.it was beautiful to see .we live in a bungalow near Sheffield city centre ,nature never ceases to amaze me. Take each day and cherish nature’s delights,you will see something new every day.
We have had a jay today ,it came to eat our bird mixture in our garden.I am 70 yrs old and have never seen one before to my knowledge.it was beautiful to see .we live in a bungalow near Sheffield city centre ,nature never ceases to amaze me. Take each day and cherish nature’s delights,you will see something new every day.
Eurasian Jay in my garden this morning beautiful bird i live in Gwynedd North Wales
Today was the first time I’ve seen a Jay in my garden. I’ve live here in Skegness for 3 years. It stayed there for a few minutes having a drink of water whilst I took some photos and then flew off.
Jays ARE in the West coast of Ireland. I have them in my garden in West Cork
Just seen my first Jay in our garden in Worcestershire… shame I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo!
Spotted a Jay in my garden Today. It just makes me smile
Very interesting read, thank you. Jays Have been visiting for many years to our feeders but they are so easily spooked it’s been hard to get a good pic. Finally today a jay visited our set up in our small patch of woodland.