Mexican Jays — Very Smart Birds

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Mexican Jays are intelligent birds. They’re members of the Corvid family, which includes Crows, Ravens, Jays, and several related species, and all of these birds have a reputation for being smart. The other day I was an eyewitness to just how smart these Jays are.

I was at the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, south of Tucson. The lodge has put out a number of bird feeders and has graciously opened a public viewing area. The feeders are sections of wooden beam with holes drilled into them at intervals. The lodge packs the holes with food. The feeders are designed so that some species — woodpeckers and nuthatches, for example — that are evolved to climb and perch vertical tree trunks and limbs, can hang on to the wooden beams while they feed. Other larger, heavier birds, such as Jays, cannot grasp the wood, so they slide off when they attempt to.

But the Mexican Jays have learned how to extract food from the feeders. I watched as Jay after Jay performed the same maneuver. It would perch atop the feeder, then hop off. It would beat its wings to slow its descent, then grab food as it slid past one of the holes. The Jays weren’t hovering. They were rappelling down the sides of the feeders.

I watched the Jays for about 1/2 hour and Jay after Jay performed this trick. It clearly wasn’t instinctive behavior. The Jays had learned how to beat the system.

Mexican Jays are social birds, living and foraging in flocks. When one Jay was on the feeder two or three others were waiting their turns. They may have learned the rappelling trick from each other. At least one of the Jays that I observed, shown below, is an immature bird, probably about a year old. The bird’s mottled beak is a sign of youth.

Quite an amazing trick! I wonder what else these Jays have learned?

Images made with a Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, stabilized by monopod, M setting (auto ISO), ISO 500 (first two images), ISO 800 (third image), f5.6 @ 1/4000.

birds mexican-jay nature photography wildlife