My husband has been feeding peanuts to our resident Steller's Jays and we've noticed interesting behavior. Often times, a jay will fly onto our lawn, 'bury' the peanut in the grass, and then pick up 2 or 3 leaves to cover the peanut. We're wondering if the Jay is doing this to hide his food or if s/he uses the leaves as a marker, thinking s/he can retrieve the cache at a later time. My husband compares this behavior to marking your golf ball on the green with a penny, so you'll remember where your ball is!

Pat Grainger
Port Townsend
paq at olypen.com