Nearly everybody can recognize a Blue Jay whether or not they are a birder. The Blue Jay is very common and is our only bright blue bird with a prominent crest. Many backyard birders have a love/hate relationship with the Blue Jay. They love to enjoy the beauty of the Blue Jays but hate to see them chase the smaller birds away from the feeders. If you have this problem, a good solution is to put out a feeder for the Blue Jays and also feeders that are specially designed to keep the Blue Jays out so the little birds have a chance to feed as well. Blue Jays enjor eating cracked corn from the ground. If you spread the corn over a wide area, there will be less fighting among the birds. Corn will also attract Mourning Doves, a bird that can easily hold its own against Blue Jays. The length and size of the Blue Jay's bill is ideally suited for a bird that eats a wide variety of food items and is quick to take advantage of new sources of food.

Unlike many species of birds which migrate south in winter, Blue Jays either stay put or move towards areas that have the most food. If you spend some time watching Blue Jays, you will soon discover how intelligent these birds are. In fact, some people feel that the Blue Jay is one of the smartest birds around, and only its close relative the crow is more clever and cunning. The Blue Jay receives its common name from its colouration and its common call note which to many people sounds like "jay, jay" while others hear it as an "eee, eee" sound. The Blue Jay's Latin name, Cyanocitta cristata gives an excellent summation of the bird - it means "blue chattering bird with a crest."

If you inspect the plumage of the Blue Jay carefully, you may see that this bird has at least four distinct shades of blue making up its plumage. These blues are actually an optical illusion. Blue Jays feathers are not blue, they are brown. The illusion of blue is created by the physical structure of the Blue Jay's feathers, which scatters blue wavelengths of white light, giving the impression that the bird is blue. When a Blue Jay's feather is held so it can be viewed by transmitted light and not reflected light, it reveals its true colour - brown. This type of colouration is unique to certain species of birds and is called structural colour to separate it from the most common form of colouration, pigmentary (colour based on pigments).