Very bright Pinyon Jays
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SeEtta Moss
Jun 9, 2010, 3:15:05 AM6/9/10
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After my meeting in Salida yesterday I birded a little around town. There was a male Common Goldeneye at Sands Lake as well as at least 2 Great-tailed Grackles (this location has hosted this species for several years).
I found a large flock of Pinyon Jays in a sprawling subdivision in the pinyon pine forest on the edge of this small town. I watched these birds foraging and taking the pinyon pine seeds to flattish rocks where they held them with their toes and jabbed to pry them open with their bills. Not only was the use of rocks more effective than trying to open the seeds on the softish ground but it was efficient to use the rocks which were all over thus saving them time they would have used to take each seed to a tree to wedge it in the bark in order to pry it open. I uploaded a photo of one of these jays working on a pine nut to my BirdsAndNature
SeEtta Moss
Canon City
http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com
I found a large flock of Pinyon Jays in a sprawling subdivision in the pinyon pine forest on the edge of this small town. I watched these birds foraging and taking the pinyon pine seeds to flattish rocks where they held them with their toes and jabbed to pry them open with their bills. Not only was the use of rocks more effective than trying to open the seeds on the softish ground but it was efficient to use the rocks which were all over thus saving them time they would have used to take each seed to a tree to wedge it in the bark in order to pry it open. I uploaded a photo of one of these jays working on a pine nut to my BirdsAndNature
SeEtta Moss
Canon City
http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com
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