The jay is my favourite corvid. It’s shy, so I don’t see it very often. The jay is more correctly known as the Eurasian Jay. Unlike our other crows, which are monochrome, the jay is a soft pinky-brown, with black markings on its face and crown. It has black and white wings with a striking bright blue panel, finely marked in black. You can just see the blue flash on the left-hand side of this jay, still noticeable even though it was across the valley by the time I was able to get the shot. The little feathers from this panel are very conspicuous if you happen to see one on the ground and are exquisite little treasures.
Jays mostly live in wooded areas, preferring broad-leaved trees, but they can also be seen in coniferous forests, scrub, and urban habitats.
Their favourite food is acorns, but they will also eat insects, seeds, fruit, eggs and small birds and mammals. Another name for it is the Acorn Jay, for its love of acorns, which it hides for later. It is said that the spread of oak trees after the Ice Age was largely caused by its forgotten acorns.