Everytime this year, I make two related observations. First, the number of Google searches on "bald Blue Jays" skyrockets. Second, I start seeing bald Blue Jays in my yard.
I did a post with pictures in August 2007 about bald jays. And I have some other images of bald jays posted in my Flickr account.
Blue Jays go through one complete molt a year in late summer. This molt usually proceeds in an orderly fashion so that you barely notice that it's going on. But Blue Jays (as well as Northern Cardinals) often experience a complete molt of their head and maybe even their neck feathers. Nothing is wrong with the bird and the feathers will grow back.
But for a period of time until they feathers return, they do look rather odd. Get out a pair of binoculars and look for bald jays in your yard. Let me know if you see one.
I ah e a blue jay friend that visits all the time. He perches on my shoulder and plays with my hair. He is the sweetest thing ever. But I did notice today during his visit that his neck feathers are gone. This article helped me realize that he is not sick. Which I was worried about. He is a good friend and now I can be assured that he is healthy. I have many pictures and videos of him visiting and playing with us. He's quite magnificent. Makes me feel like snow white
Posted by: Erica mccallister | September 26, 2016 at 08:56 AM
Yes!!!! We have a bald blue jay coming to get peanuts from our deck !!! Very interesting
Posted by: Ang brown | September 10, 2016 at 07:31 AM
Relieved to learn that the Baldy Blu Jays are just going through a phase! I thought I was at fault for feeding them some chopped up almonds!
Posted by: Ray | September 09, 2016 at 05:33 PM
Thank you for the article & photo's. I have several Bald (head and neck) Jays coming to a window mount platform feeder, a Mother's Day gift, purchased at Wild Birds Unlimited in Clearwater, FL. Glad to know it's part of the normal molt cycle. I have Jays, cardinals, and morning doves visiting this feeder, the squirrels can't reach it, they only get what the birds drop to the ground. Stephanie Dunedin, Florida.
Posted by: Stephanie | September 07, 2016 at 01:28 PM
West Windsor VT here. Have them all over the farm. I thought they were doing it to each other! Glad to hear it is normal
Posted by: Sally Edson | September 05, 2016 at 09:53 AM
I have at least 5 of them that I put peanuts out on my deck for each morning, I figured it had to be moulting but I have been doing this for several years and never recall seeing their heads bald. Thank you for sharing, makes me feel better as I love my daily blue jay visits.
Posted by: tisha | September 05, 2016 at 09:04 AM
A bald blue jay has been a regular at my feeders in Springfield, VA (northern VA) for the past week. I also worried about him/her but he/she seems perfectly healthy, raucous voice & normally agile. I had a bald cardinal a couple years ago & I thought it was a juvenile. Thanks for setting me straight!
Posted by: Sheila | September 02, 2016 at 12:16 AM
Yes. Coatesville PA.. banded headed blue Jay's. Mother nature always has surprises. Today August 29th 2016.
I am happy to read they are normal. But sadly they look like something out of Alfred Hitchcock movie lol
Posted by: Lucy | August 29, 2016 at 07:11 PM
When I first saw a bald headed blue jay I thought it was a cross between a blue jay and a vulture.
Posted by: Robert Ricketson | August 29, 2016 at 05:35 PM
I live in northern Illinois and I've seen two blue jays and one cardinal with no head and neck feathers, I was concerned but glad to know it's a natural occurrence.
Posted by: Laura | August 28, 2016 at 08:37 PM
I have fed birds for over 30 years and this is the first year I have noticed so many bald Blue Jays in August. My mother used to feed them also, and never to this extent have I seen this occurrence. I have wondered about feeding them suet (Royal Wing Peanut) in summer. The woodpeckers and jays crave this, and I use the cage feeders which means their chest and neck have to come in contact with the greasy cage. I wonder too about the unusually hot and dry summer here in the Great Lakes region. Despite all the comments on the normalcy of this occurrence, I still have to wonder if environmental and nutritional (methods)are an underlying cause.
Posted by: Alan Hartwig | August 28, 2016 at 06:48 PM
Have a couple of baldies in Clarkston, MI. One has a single long feather left on his head and we named him Hilarious plus a bald Cardinal and one that looks like he has been through the war with feathers missing all over his body. We call them Al O'pecia and Varigated.
Posted by: Ron | August 28, 2016 at 03:04 PM
Thank you for this article. I thought I had sickly Blue Jays in my yard this week. Glad to see its perfectly normal.
Liverpool, PA.
Posted by: Tiffany | August 28, 2016 at 08:51 AM
Goodness! I'm sitting here crying, thinking the poor thing's dying. I immediately wondered if I'd fed them poisonous seeds or given them toxic water. Thank you for my heart's ease.
I was just looking at photos I took of the birds feeding. The bald jay showed up just after the other birds had eaten. I thought it was too embarrassed to eat with the others because it's bald. Silly me.
Posted by: Limner | August 27, 2016 at 08:47 PM
I have three bald bluejays coming every morning for peanuts in Guelph Ontario. They have energy and loud screechy voices but look awfully funny.
Posted by: Cynthia Bragg | August 27, 2016 at 08:19 PM
Posted by Kim (Ann arbor, mi) there is a group of five or six that come to my patio, noticed one first, then all the others and immediately went on line, thank you! August 27, 2016
Posted by: Kim thompson | August 27, 2016 at 05:48 PM
Strange looking molting blue jays are here on Cape Cod. Could they be morphing into vultures? Fortunately, the answer is no.
Posted by: EW | August 27, 2016 at 04:10 PM
Thank you for the information!! We've seen one in our Ohio feeder for the last few weeks and it is completely bald!!! It is late August and we wondered what in the world happened to that poor blue jay! Glad to hear it just part of nature and nothing is wrong...
Posted by: Sandra D | August 27, 2016 at 02:35 PM
Saw bald blue jay today in Bradford, PA, at a feeder. Carol K
Posted by: Carol Kozel | August 25, 2016 at 09:07 PM
Well I can't tell you what a relief it is to have found this site. I have three Blue Jays that are regular visitors and yes, one is bald. I too thought something was wrong with this little guy and was very much relieved to know, all is well. Kenosha, Wisconsin
Posted by: Heidi Levin | August 25, 2016 at 12:43 PM
I'm so glad to see that this is a common occurrence although I have never in all my life seen a bald blue jay before. I think my Jay must be the same as another post from Karen in Minesing, Ontario I am In Springwater Ontario 5 minutes away! I am almost positive that this Jay has been visiting me since he was a baby 3 years ago as the grey markings on his chest are the same and I have pictures to compare.
Posted by: Helen | August 24, 2016 at 04:04 PM
Saw a bluejay yesterday in Portage Michigan that was molting. Didn't know what that was at the time. Thanks for the information.
Posted by: Bruce | August 24, 2016 at 09:53 AM
Just spotted one squaking up a storm by the feeder this morning. I think it was the same obnoxious jerk bird that terrorizes the area so loudly. When I went to shoo him off, is when I noticed his bald head. He'll squak so loudly out there that I thought maybe someone had taken a pot shot at him because he hadn't been around for a while. It made me laugh.
Palm Harbor, Florida
Posted by: Gina | August 23, 2016 at 06:01 PM
We have one! Lively ontario!
Posted by: Jill | August 23, 2016 at 02:07 PM
Thank you for this info. My cats and I watched as they came to our feeder at least 6. One has a mohawk with 4 spikes left at the back pretty cute.
Aug23/2016
Cheers Lenni from Port Perry
Posted by: Lenni Eastwood | August 23, 2016 at 11:19 AM