Talkback: Jays

I have always loved jays, they used to come into our garden when I was small but my grandparents (who lived in an annexe of our house) said they were bullies because they chased away the other birds so jays weren't very popular in our house. I suppose I felt a bit sorry for them - after all, they're so handsome! Since I got married and moved twenty minutes' drive nearer London, I haven't seen a single one :-( We get magpies and carrion crows (LOADS of them recently for some reason) but no jays unfortunately.

Don't Jays eat acorns? So perhaps having an oak tree in the vicinity is helpful.

Beautiful to look at Jays and Magpies but don't they kill blue tits Robins and all the other little birds that we hold so dear.

Reply to Kay Curtis Like rooks, crows and magpies, jays are predators and will take nestlings if they get the chance. There are a lot of comments on the pros and cons of magpies on another blog entry http://blog.gardenersworld.com/2008/02/13/rj-magpies-mice-1302008/

We have a family of Jays that have been nesting in the eaves of our house for longer than we have lived here which is 7 years. Yes they can be noisy and boisterous but the resident Blackbirds, Tits, Robins etc in our manicured conifers trees keep them in check. We are fortunate to live on the edge of farming land so our birds we see are quite a mixed bunch. Is it true that Jays are a protected bird?