It’s been my pleasure to witness the growth of two fledgling birds from nest to not-quite adult hood the last few months. It was probably about 100 days ago I noticed two little baby Jays following two adult jays which I know very well. I was so stoked they had some babies!
I kept my distance and just let them warm up to me over time. They would stay in the tree while I talking to them in a gentle tone. Not long after, maybe a week or two, they were coming closer and closer. Eventually, one of them decided I was a good human, and she trusted me. I would put an acorn in my hand, and she would land on my hand and retrieve the acorn without any hesitation and without any fear. She was so light I could barely feel her on my hand.
Over time they would always come to greet me but only one would land on my hand. The older, and slightly larger one would keep his distance. Eventually he also would land on my hand but always with some trepidation.
It’s virtually impossible to tell the sex of a FL Scrub Jay just by sight alone. They can tell one another’s sex because they see in a spectrum which we do not. But I always had a strong feeling that the friendlier one was a female, and the other was a male. Today my gut instinct was confirmed!
The two juvenile jays were still palling around in the scrub when I spotted them today. It has been about a week since I saw them. They came to greet me, and I hung out just enjoying their company when the younger one started to sing. Scrub-jays can actually create a very low-volume song which sounds a little like songbirds. Scrub Jay enthusiasts call it their “happy song” because they only sing it when they appear to be having a great time. It’s actually quite rare to hear.
Anyway, she started cycling through other scrub-jay calls and sounds, obviously practicing them. Then she made one which is all too familiar. She made the warning call that alerts the group that there is a foreign male in their presence. “Cluck cluck cluck!”. That’s when it hit me, she’s a girl! I knew it! 🙂
I started making some similar sounds back at her and it definitely seemed like she was interacting with them. I would make one then she would make a similar one. She seemed so happy and jubilant, which mad me happy and jubilant as well.
She continued to make all the different sounds, not fully completing them and some of them weren’t just quite right yet, but that’s what practice is for!
Here is a quick clip I made of her a few weeks ago. She is a sweetie.