In a recent book on preserving oak woodlands in California the recommendation was made to not feed Corvids and other species that are known nest predators, at least during the nesting season. Giving them a nutritional "leg up" during that time was believed to increase nest predation.

Hal Michael
Olympia
ucd880 at comcast.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Brendan McGarry
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] re: feeding gray jays


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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