Common Jay, The Gardener Of The Woods
The Eurasian Common Jay ( Garrulus glandarius ) is a very special bird that inhabits all of Europe and much of Asia. It is a corvid related to crows that is essential for the expansion of our forests, thanks to one of its peculiar behaviors.
In Spain, we can find it throughout the peninsula, but its largest populations are found in the north. Their wide distribution allows us to find them in the Maghreb, Siberia or Himalayas.
Common Jay Characteristics
This bird is unmistakable, and unlike the rest of the corvids, it is very colorful, with plumage in ocher tones, greyish, whitish and with particular designs, which are its identity. It has a black mustache on the beak side and a turquoise blue feather panel.
This medium-sized species, smaller than a crow and larger than a blackbird, is very noisy and makes harsh sounds, with a certain metallic sound, which it uses as a wake-up call. It is also able to imitate, in a sense, the sounds of other birds, such as those of some birds of prey, such as the round-winged eagle.
The unique behavior of the common jay
The common jay stands out for being an extremely intelligent bird, as well as other species of corvids. They have very special behaviors, and some of them make them authentic gardeners of our forests.
Some examples are the use of entertainment and gifts by males in mating rituals. This behavior is performed by few species, as in most occasions, it means that the species understands the wishes of other individuals, something very complicated.
It is also known that they can have complex social structures and express their mood through their vocalizations. There are very few such examples in the animal world, and the chimpanzee is one of them.
This bird is also an example of the use of tools on animals and, like crows, understands the permanence of the object. This means that if you hide objects, such as a fruit in a vase, the animal understands perfectly that the food has not disappeared. They even use ants as medicine against parasites through ant baths.
Like other corvids, the common jay specializes in a surveillance and warning system to ensure that they are not attacked by predators. These birds quickly locate birds of prey and perform warning calls, then form a group and chase the predator to leave the group alone.
the gardener of the woods
The most important behavior is its ability to store seeds, especially acorns or nuts, for cold and less favorable times.
Researchers suspected that this behavior was far more complex than it looked. They proved through different experiments that the common jay’s habit of storing food is due to its ability to plan for the future, something that was thought only humans could do.
This behavior is what makes him a fundamental animal for our forests. In many cases, the jay does not consume all its deposits, or ends up forgetting about them.
So the seeds germinate and the groves expand when they move these heavy fruits, which would hardly move otherwise.
This behavior is being used in Portugal to reforest burned forests. A Portuguese NGO created acorn deposits in the forests so that the common jay would end up forming a new forest where today there is only ash.
