Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer (1915 edition)Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Science
Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer (1915 edition)
Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Birds -- United States
Examination of the stomachs of 326 California jays shows that 27 per
cent of the contents for the year consists of animal matter and 73
per cent of vegetable. Although the great bulk of the animal food
is made up of insects, the remains of eggshells and birds’ bones
appear much too often. The insect food is fairly well distributed
among the more common orders, but grasshoppers are slightly the most
numerous and constitute 4.5 per cent of the year’s food. In July,
August, and September, however, the amount is 14, 18, and 19 per cent,
respectively. Four per cent of the food consists of wasps, bees, etc.,
but in the three months named they constitute 15, 7, and 9 per cent,
respectively. A worker honeybee found in each of two stomachs is rather
surprising, for it is unusual to find a bird like the jay eating many
of these active and elusive insects, which enter into the diet of
the flycatchers. The remainder of the insect food is pretty evenly
distributed among beetles, bugs, flies, and caterpillars. Eggshells
were found in 21 stomachs and birds’ bones in 5. Six stomachs contained
the bones of mammals and two those of a lizard. No bird has a worse
reputation for nest robbing than has the eastern jay, and yet of 530
stomachs of the eastern species only 6 contained eggshells or the bones
of birds. This comparison serves to show what a marauder and nest thief
the California jay really is.
In its vegetable diet this bird much resembles its eastern relative,
the most remarkable difference being in the matter of fruit eating.
With greater opportunities the California bird has developed a greater
appetite for fruit and indulges it to the fullest extent. Remains of
fruit were found in 220 of the 326 stomachs. The percentage for the
year is only 16, but for the four months of June, July, August, and
September it is 44, 33, 53, and 25, respectively. Cherries, apricots,
and prunes are the favorites among cultivated fruits, and elderberries
are relished to some extent. Grain, which was found in 48 stomachs,
amounts to 6 per cent of the food of the year. Practically all of it
was taken in the four months above mentioned, but it is not probable
that much damage is done by the jay in this respect. The major portion
of the grain was oats. What was not wild was probably simply scattered
grain gleaned after the harvest. Mast is eaten by the California jay
from September to March, inclusive, and constitutes during most of
that period one of the principal elements of its food. In this respect
the bird shows a remarkable similarity to the eastern species. A few
weed seeds and other miscellaneous items make up the balance of the
vegetable food.
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