More Bald Blue Jays

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ATTENTION

Our eyes and ears should be open and alert to the natural wonders that surround us every day. Take time to look out our windows to see the birds that visit us and open our windows to hear them. Walk around whatever space we have to enjoy the birds in nature. Every day, work on improving our powers of observation.

ACCEPTANCE

Nature happens. We cannot MAKE natural things happen (or NOT happen). We can create habitats to encourage natural things to happen around us, but there are no guarantees.

RESPONSIBILITY

Birdfeeding comes with responsibilities to the birds and the environment we share with them. If you are unwilling to accept these responsibilities, you shouldn’t feed the birds. We also have a responsibility to share these natural wonders with the next generation.

August 12, 2007

Another bald Blue Jay at the feeders the other day. Here's some facts from Cornell Lab of Ornithology about bald birds.

The Birdchick blog also recently had a post and cool pictures of bald cardinals.

Finish this post: "Two bald jays walk into a bar..."

UPDATE 2008: Mid-August 2008 brought another batch of bald Blue Jays to the feeders. Check out some new photos of bald jays in the Late Summer Yard Observations post.

UPDATE 2009: Here's a link to pictures of 2009's bald Blue Jays!

UPDATE 2012: Here's 2012 pictures entitled "Blue Jay Style".

Posted at 09:40 PM in Attention, Feeder Birds, Funny Birds, Molt, Young Birds | Permalink

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Dee, thanks for pointing her our way. Hope her mystery is settled.

Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | September 10, 2012 at 08:26 PM

I believe I have a picture from a friend on Face Book of a bald Blue Jay!!

Posted by: Dee Belanger | September 03, 2012 at 07:29 PM

Anne - thanks for commenting. Last year, I'd estimate that 1/2 of the jays had some level of head baldness. This year, quite a few but not nearly as many.
It DOES grow back. In a few weeks, you'll forget they looked as bad as they did.

Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | August 30, 2008 at 09:54 PM

I have several bald blue jays (12 or so) coming to my feeder along with several bald cardinals (5 or 6). I have read that this could be a normal molting process (it is August 30th) but it is rare to see them lose all their feathers at once, especially in so many birds. I will try to take a photo and monitor their recovery as it goes.

Posted by: Anne Cubeta | August 30, 2008 at 11:11 AM

Blue-jays do heavy molts! Great shots!

Posted by: mon@rch | August 16, 2007 at 01:07 PM

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