Jays in general prey on nests - gobbling up eggs and/or nestlings. A
speculation here given how Stellar's are a pretty major predator to birds
within conifer forests, that maybe Stellar's are more of an issue than
Scrub Jay when Acorn Woodpeckers are needing to defend nests from the
jays. And I would guess Stellars are also thieves and pests when it comes
to wanting morsels from a woodpecker granary as well. Therefore, they may
be generally more aggressive towards Stellars then with other birds? Food
for thought.... :O)
*Liz*
*Elizabeth I. Gayner*
*OR/WA BLM Peregrine Falcon Technical Coordinator*
*Lead Wildlife Biologist - Swiftwater Field Office*
Bureau of Land Management - Roseburg District Office
Phone: (541) 464-3381; egayner@xxxxxxx
On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 10:37 AM, Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx
wrote:
My son Daniel put up a platform seed feeder at our place a few months ago.
ACORN WOODPECKERS, with their main granary about 60 ft away, are regulars.
CALIFORNIA SCRUB-JAYS were slow to use the feeder, but do so regularly now,
both in and below the feeder. The JAYS are tolerated by the WOODPECKERS
(king of the feeder), in fact this morning there was one ACORN WOODPECKER
and one SCRUB-JAY feeding on the ground inches from each other. Until this
morning, we had not had STELLER'S JAYS at the feeder.
Glancing out the window this morning I saw a STELLER'S JAY approach and
maybe land or almost land on the feeder. However, immediately, one of the
ACORN WOODPECKERS went after the STELLER'S JAY and drove it to the ground
as the JAY attempted to flee. Immediately the STELLER'S JAY took off from
the ground upward into a nearby tree where we saw there was a second
STELLER'S JAY. They both sat there for a few minutes before moving on and
we haven't seen them in the hour since.
Up to this point we had not seen the ACORN WOODPECKER aggressively go
after any other birds. They typically just fly up to the feeder and the
other birds get out of the way. Why go after the STELLER'S JAY so
aggressively (vs getting along with CA SCRUB-JAYS)? Maybe because it
is/was a "new" threat? Or are STELLER'S particularly a threat to ACORN
WOODPECKERS in some way? Any ideas? Anyone with ACORN WOODPECKERS have a
similar or different experience?
Curious,
Matt
