Hi Susan,
Every year in Summer, people here and there throughout the country notice bald Jays. Adult Blue Jays molt every summer. The feathers are replaced a few at a time over most of their bodies, so they retain enough feathers to keep flying and to protect their bodies from the elements. This is also how some of them molt their head feathers.
But some Jays tend to drop all their head feathers simultaneously. This has one big advantage, reducing the number of days that the head is missing any feathers at all, but a big disadvantage, too, exposing the bird’s head to the elements with no protection whatsoever for as long as a week or two. This is not what you’d call shiny bald - the feathers don’t just drop out but are pushed out by the newly-emerging replacement feathers.
Pay attention through the season, and you may also see this molt in our Towhees, and - if you go Out East - the Cardinals.
Hope this helps,
Jon. Anderson
OIyWa