Favorite Feathered Neighbors

     Two species of adaptable birds, Carolina chickadees and blue jays, have been my favorite feathered neighbors in our suburban neighborhood for many years for a variety of reasons.  And, as I sat in front of our computer about to type this true story, a chickadee fluttered a couple of minutes among twigs of a lilac bush, just outside the window I'm facing, only four feet from my face, as if encouraging me to get on with it and tell its story.  What a coincidence!  Or was it?   
     As species, Carolina chickadees and blue jays are woodland birds that have adapted to suburban areas with their many trees and shrubbery, adding another touch of wildness to those suburbs.  Happily, both these species of birds are permanent residents in our yard, as many populations of their kinds are throughout much of North America.  There has been at least one pair of each species here, continuously and the year around for many years, as long as I have lived here.  Each species raises young in our neighborhood and they come to our feeder when we provide bird feed during winter.  I never tire of seeing and hearing them among the trees and shrubbery around the house.  They are always interesting.
     Both these species of birds are attractive.  The chicks are smaller than sparrows, mostly gray, but with a jaunty black cap and bib.  Their greatest beauty, however, is their lively, seemingly cheerful actions no matter the weather is the year around, accompanied by their "dee-dee" or "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" notes through the year.
     Blue jays are mostly blue, with black and white markings.  They have a crest on top of their heads and often a raucous calling, including a raspy "jay, jay".  They can be brash at times, like their crow relatives, but quiet while raising young, so as to not draw attention to themselves and their offspring.       Chickadees hatch youngsters in cavities, including those in trees, abandoned woodpecker holes and erected wren or bluebird boxes.  Each female lays about 6 eggs in a clutch.  Some summers, the pair of chicks in our neighborhood have reared young in boxes we erected.  But, apparently, they hatch youngsters somewhere else in the neighborhood during other years.  And, throughout the year, a pair of chicks also enters a dryer vent not used anymore on our house.  
     A couple places that blue jays have nested on our lawn are high in one of our Norway spruce trees and on top of a eight-foot-tall red juniper tree.  I only know they have reared offspring high in a spruce by watching their constant comings and goings in that tree for a few weeks in summer.  And I have watched the parents feeding the newly fledged young in our yard.  I noticed the jay nursery in the juniper by innocently walking by it one day.  An unseen jay jumped out of that juniper and began calling raucously as I walked by.  I looked up and saw the cradle at the top of that young tree.
     Some years I see the courting of blue jays in our neighborhood.  The pair is inseparable and the male offers tidbits of food to his mate.  And they engage in much pleasant "conversation".
     Chickadees and jays, being dramatically different sized birds, do not compete much for food.  The chicks eat invertebrates and their tiny eggs, and small seeds and berries.  Jays consume invertebrates, small acorns, like those on pin oaks, corn, seeds and berries.  In fall, I see the attractive jays gathering pin oak acorns from among strikingly golden or orange pin oak leaves to bury in the ground or push into tree cavities.  The jays will consume some of those hidden acorns in winter when food is scarce.  Both species enjoy ingesting sunflower seeds and other grains at bird feeders.
     The adaptable Carolina chickadees and blue jays add much beauty and wildness to the tree and bush-studded lawns they live in.  They are pleasant and helpful neighbors to have, being attractive, lively and cheery, and eating many insects and weed seeds.