Subject: [Tweeters] re: feeding gray jays
Date: Sep 18 11:57:25 2008
From: Brendan McGarry - mcgbre04 at gmail.com


I'll admit it - I've fed them worse. On a trip to the North Cascades this
summer we encountered a family group of Gray Jays and all we had on hand
were corn chips. So that's what they got. They were organic chips, that's
got to count for something right? (kidding) I usually don't feed them
crappy food but since it was the middle of the summer, I didn't see much
danger to their health. I suspect that in the middle of the summer this low
quality food wouldn't be their only food source. This situation provided
some excellent opportunities for shots with my point and shoot camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanmcgarry/2636610179/in/set-72157603653226306/
scroll through to see more, there are some amusing ones of the young birds.


Besides feeding them poor food, I see little problem with feeding jays and
it's very fun! Everyone has intimated that they suspect it doesn't disturb
their ability to find food (being a thoroughly ingrained behavior) and as a
firm believer in Corvid capabilities I echo that. Anyway, it's not like if
all the birders stop feeding them then it won't happen any more. Might as
well enjoy it.

-Brendan
Seattle, WA
mcgbre04 at gmail.com

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 10:16 AM, Dianna Moore <dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com>wrote:

> Hi all?interesting thread, but?.make them raw nuts. Roasting nuts above
> 140 degrees removes their nutritional value and destroys the enzymes. It
> won't kill them, and it's not as bad as feeding them Cheetos, but roasted
> nuts are barely a food any more. Now if you offered them some peanut
> butter?that's a whole new story!
>
>
>
> Dianna Moore
>
> Ocean Shores, Wa.
>
> dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com
>
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