Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer (1926 edition)Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Science
Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer (1926 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 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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