Juvenile Behavior

/ Tracy Abell

            

I’m supposed to be working on BIRD BRAIN,
but keep getting distracted by three juvenile Western Scrub Jays.

I saw one hopping around my patio table this morning,
checking out the umbrella turn-handle as if hoping it would yield food.

Fortunately, she came around the house and found the motherlode of peanuts.


                                                                                                              © Tracy Abell 2010

The youngsters aren’t able to extract the whole thing the way adult jays do,
but they peck at the shells until they can pull out one peanut at a time.

(This qualifies as research, right?)
                       

16 thoughts on “Juvenile Behavior”

    • Karen, I don’t know about mice but the squirrels come to this feeder, too. They’re great fun to watch, also. I haven’t seen any this go around, though. I think these jays called dibs and the squirrels are waiting for the next fill.

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    • I think that’s true. It didn’t help my concentration that my cat was so focused on watching. It was like a little ongoing comedy/drama outside the window all day.

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  5. Lovely photo, Tracy! Your photograph skills have always been excellent, but they keep getting better and better. And of course it helps that you’ve got such beautiful subjects, right in your own backyard! 🙂

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    • Thank you for those kind words, Melodye. I’d been cursing the camera the evening before because the flash kept going off and reflecting in the window. Zippy adjusted it for me (because I’ve lost my manual camera skills).

      That jay is a beauty. I feel very fortunate to have such a nice close-up position for viewing.

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  6. sounds like research to me . . . and it also sounds like a metaphor for adolescents–they don’t have the same strength and finess as adults, but they are persistent (sometimes to a fault.)

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    • They are very persistent. And vocal throughout. The adults don’t make all that racket but I think the frustration might’ve been getting to the juvies as they tried getting to those peanuts. Either that, or that’s their battle cry.

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