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The Popular Bird You Don't Want Hanging Around Your Yard
By LINDSAY DONALDSON
Blue jays are gorgeous, but you may not want to attract them to your yard because they can be aggressive toward other birds and drive them away.
Ornithologist John James Audubon of the Audubon Society accused blue jays of "selfishness, duplicity, and malice," and the birding community has widely adopted his perspective.
These noisy bullies intimidate smaller perching birds with territorial behavior and aggression, imitating the cry of the predatory red-shouldered or broad-winged hawks.
This often successfully drives smaller birds away, and without competition at feeders, blue jays can gobble up expensive seed at an alarming rate.
These birds are also known as nest-robbers, and while they mainly eat greens, fruits, and seeds, they do occasionally make a meal of other birds' eggs.