Blue jays are big, bold and clever members of the crow family, and their diet is just as opportunistic. They are especially famous for their love of acorns and peanuts.
What blue jays eat
Blue jays are omnivores. A large part of their diet is acorns, nuts and seeds, along with fruit, berries, insects and grains. They will occasionally eat eggs or nestlings, and they famously cache acorns in the ground — which helps plant new oak trees. Their strong beaks handle hard nuts with ease.
Their feeder favourites
Blue jays love whole peanuts in the shell, sunflower seeds and cracked corn, and they will happily raid a suet feeder too. They are large and a little pushy, often arriving noisily and scattering smaller birds, then carrying off several nuts at once to store for later.
How to attract blue jays
Offer peanuts in the shell — a jay favourite — on a sturdy platform or tray feeder that gives them room to land. Whole-kernel sunflower seed and a dedicated peanut feeder also work well. Their bold, curious nature means they usually find a reliable food source quickly.