The Blue Jays

Blue Jays can be a nuisance at bird feeders, like crows they bogard their way into the feeding area scaring songbirds away. They typically only give way to large woodpeckers; but they do have a benefit – like crows they will chase hawks away. While the blue jays might monopolize the bird feeders, they are little threat to the songbirds, while hawks view smaller birds as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Blue jays are fighter interceptors when they see a hawk, swarming after it and chasing it away – and while the blue jays are after the hawk the smaller birds are back at the feeders.

I guess there is a sense in which, if you are songbird, you learn to put up with blue jays knowing that they can be beneficial. Life can be like that.