As a former resident of Brooklyn now living in Florida, and a bird lover, I was pleased to see the excellent bird photography by Heather Wolf featured in the Brooklyn Eagle’s “BirdWatch” series. With hundreds of miles of shoreline, it is well known that Florida is home to many species of beautiful and exotic shorebirds like the Great White Egret, the Great Blue Heron, as well as large predators like the Osprey and the Bald Eagle. While the Egrets and the Great Herons will search for food in residential areas, Florida also has its abundance of the smaller, and more often seen birds like the Mockingbird (our State Bird), the Brown Thrasher, and of course, the Blue Jay.
I noted in your column that “If you want the pretty blue hues of their feathers in your backyard, Blue jays prefer tray and hopper feeders, not hanging ones.” Several years ago I happened to build a tray feeder and attached it to a fence in the backyard of the building where I live. And I saw that your observations are correct: the Blue Jays were the most frequent visitors to the feeder. Something I noticed about Blue Jays, in addition to loving acorns, they also love peanuts. I have attached one of many photographs I have taken of Blue jays. This one is preparing to quickly take flight from the feeder after clasping a peanut in its beak.
