Archipelago Wildlife Library

The Jay’s most heard call is a loud, hoarse, “kschaaach,” often repeated in succession ⁽⁵⁾. They use this call for display and as an alarm call ⁽⁵⁾. Other calls Jays make are a cackling “kya-kya” in mimicry of the Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), a far-carrying “kraak kraak,” and a buzzard-like “piyeh” ^{(2) (5)}. Their song, a mixture of varied musical sounds from clucks to mews, is rarely heard ^{(2) (5)}.

The Jay is generally a shy bird but may be seen hopping on the ground, collecting acorns ⁽¹⁾. It caches (buries) hundreds of acorns in the autumn, creating a food supply to use throughout the year ^{(1) (6)}. It can carry several acorns in a throat pouch and one in its bill ⁽¹⁾. The cached acorns are a valuable resource, especially for feeding their nestlings and fledglings in the early summer ⁽⁶⁾.  The relationship between Jays and Mediterranean oak trees has been described as mutualistic: oaks provide Jays with food, and the Jay (who will not collect every acorn that has been hoarded) helps the oak by dispersing its seeds long distance and burying them ⁽⁶⁾.

The Jay may be seen on the ground with its wing spread out, placing ants on its feathers ⁽¹⁾. This behaviour is called “anting”; the ants produce secretions which may help the Jay to get rid of insect and mite parasites, fungi and bacteria ⁽⁷⁾.  Jays are social birds, and as a flock will mob a predator they catch sight of ⁽⁵⁾.

The Jay breeds in deciduous and coniferous woodlands, and maquis with tall trees. It favours habitats with oak (Quercus spp.) trees, followed by beech (Fagus spp.) and other trees with nuts and seeds such as pine (Pinus spp.) and Chestnut Trees (Castanea sativa) ^{(5) (8)}. It can also be found in gardens and parks of suburban areas ⁽⁹⁾.

The Jay breeding season is between May and July ⁽⁶⁾. In a low thick bush, the male and female build a bulky cup-shaped nest out of sticks and twigs which they line with roots ^{(1) (2)}.  There is one clutch of five to six eggs, which the male and female take turns incubating for 16 days, and in rearing the nestlings for 20 days. They are mature enough to breed at the age of one year ⁽²⁾.

The Jay is native to most of Eurasia, ranging from Iberian Peninsula all the way across to East Asia ⁽¹⁰⁾. The Jay’s global population is estimated between 40 million to 150 million individuals, over a total range of 21.8 million km^{2 (10)}. In Europe there are over six million pairs, of which 20,000 to 50,000 pairs are in Greece ⁽¹⁰⁾. In Greece they occur mainly between 300 and 1200 meters above sea level, are common on the mainland and appear locally on Ionian and Aegean islands ⁽⁴⁾.

Jays from the northern regions may move south for the winter. Most other populations of Europe are sedentary ⁽⁴⁾.  In Greece, the numbers of Jays seem to increase during the autumn and winter, probably due to the arrival of northern birds ⁽⁴⁾.

The Jay’s main food source is acorns, but it is omnivorous, also taking a wide variety of prey ranging from caterpillars, insects, small rodents, eggs and chicks of small birds, and various seeds ^{(1) (6)}.  An insect prey of the Jay during summer months is the cicada.

A main predator of the Jay is the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).

IUCN Red List = Least concern ⁽³⁾

Description written by Maite Guignard (2009)

(1)   Hume. R. (2002) RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe, Dorling Kindersley, London

(2)   Perrins. C. (1987) Collins New Generation Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, Collins

(3)   IUCN (2009) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [online] Available:

http://www.iucnredlist.org [date accessed: 06/07/2009]

(4)   Bird Life International (2009) Species factsheet: Garrulus lidthi [online] Available: http://www.birdlife.org [date accessed: 03/07/2009]

(5)   Mullarney. K., Svensson. L., Zetterstrom. D., and Grant, P.J. (1999) Collins Bird Guide, Harper Collins Publishers, London

(6)   Pons. J., and Pausas, J.G. (2008) Modelling jay (Garrulus glandarius) abundance and distribution for oak regeneration assessment in Mediterranean landscapes, Forest Ecology and Management, 256: 578–584

(7)   Ehrlich. P.E., Dobkin. D.S., and Wheye, D. (1988) Anting [online] Available:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Anting.html [date accessed: 06/07/2009]

(8)   Handrinos. G., and Akriotis. T. (1997) The Birds of Greece, Christopher Helm Ltd., London

(9)   Jonsson. L. (1992) Birds of Europe, Christopher Helm Ltd., London

(10)                       Bird Life International (2009) Species factsheet: Garrulus glandarius [online] Available:

http://www.birdlife.org [date accessed: 03/07/2009]