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  Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The Blue Jay Way

tick... tick... tick... A biological clock is ticking. No, it's not my wife.

As I've mentioned before, in addition to our cats, we have a pet bluejay who lives outside. Over the years, I've trained him to eat from my hand.

The past few weeks, he's been appearing at our back door more frequently, seeking seeds to sow and consume. He's getting more insistent. It hasn't escaped my noticed that the days are getting shorter, the temperatures colder. I don't think it's escaped his notice, either. Winter is coming. He's fattening up, and he's planting for tomorrow.

Opportunist that I am, I've taken advantage of his desire and used it to teach him a new trick. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, some background...



It started with peanuts. Raw, unsalted peanuts still in the shell. I'd toss one in the backyard, under the tree, and the jay would swoop down and get it. Then he'd either eat it, or plant it, or both. (He's clever, that one.) Whenever I did this, I'd make a click sound with my tongue, so he'd come to associate the sound with getting food.

Once he became accustomed to this, I began to toss the peanuts closer to the house, getting him closer and closer to the back door. It took time, but it worked. And it was funny watching him do a little dance of indecision as he pondered the risk of coming close versus the benefit of easy pickings.

Eventually, it got to the point that I could click, and if he heard me he'd come to the back door and snatch a peanut from the palm of my hand, without hesitation. He's a skittish creature, though, so I have to hold very still, with no sudden motions or sudden sounds.

But now, he does more. I got tired of having to lay my hand flat on the ground so he could saunter up and inspect the contents. So I started raising it a few inches off the ground. He'd saunter over, peer at the peanut, snatch it and run. So I raised my hand higher. He'd saunter over, stretch his neck way up and if he could spy the nut in my hand, he'd jump/flap up a few inches and snag it.

So I lifted my hand higher. A foot. Two feet. Now, I can hold my hand at shoulder level, and he'll fly up to my hand and grab the goods and fly off with his booty. Like a touch-and-go that pilots practice. What pleases me, besides not having to bend down, is that he trusts me enough to fly up without even seeing the peanut. Also, I can call to him when he's in the tree, and he'll fly right from the tree to my hand.

For my next trick, I'm going to try wedging the nut between my fingers so he'll have to actually stop and land on my hand long enough to pry it out. I'll let you know if that works, providing I have fingers left with which to type.

To be honest, he's never bitten me nor scratched me with his claws. And the best part is, I don't have to clean his cage.


Blog Tag: Chatter

13 Comments:

At 11/02/2005 2:29 AM, Blogger Tammy said...

That is really cool, and damn but that had to take some amazing patience!

But then again, anything worth doing takes time and effort.

 
At 11/02/2005 9:44 AM, Blogger Mary said...

Some neighborhoods have the crazy cat lady. You? You can be the crazy bird guy. ;)
That really IS very cool, Dave. I like the trust aspect, too.

You need to have someone else photo the hand-landing for us from inside or something. That would be terrific to see.

 
At 11/02/2005 11:29 AM, Blogger Melissa said...

Mary, Dave doesn't want to ruin the mystery of what he looks like by photographing more than his hand. :)

Dave, I hope that bird flu hasn't spread to Marin County. :)

Do the peanuts that are buried sprout, so that you have peanut plants all over your yard?

 
At 11/02/2005 11:42 AM, Blogger dkgoodman said...

I did some research on peanuts and I think our soil and weather conditions aren't suitable for them. It's possible that we do have some growing, but since the nuts grow underground I don't think I'd recognize them. I don't see any plants with leaves as shown on Wikipedia. Since Jay likes to plant the nuts in the neighbors' yards as well, we've often chuckled at the thought of them finding peanuts growing and wondering, "How'd these get here?"

I'll try to take some shots (sans my face) of Jay coming in for a landing. :)

 
At 11/02/2005 12:39 PM, Blogger Melissa said...

I've often found strange things growing in my yard that I never planted, like blackberries. I blame/credit the birds.

You have a good face. There's no reason to hide it. Sarah thought that you were good looking and commented on your kind eyes that reflect the sweetness inside. She thinks that you look like a nice Jewish boy. (That's a complement) ;)

 
At 11/02/2005 2:50 PM, Blogger Lisa said...

You mean, that cartoon face isn't really your face?

Nice trick with the bird. :)

 
At 11/02/2005 4:57 PM, Blogger dkgoodman said...

LOL, Lisa.

Isn't Sarah a sweet-tongued devil? :)

 
At 11/03/2005 1:07 PM, Blogger Michelle said...

Awwww what a cutie, he's lovely.:)

 
At 11/03/2005 6:07 PM, Blogger Mary said...

Hey, I never said nothin' about seeing Dave's face! I just want the bird in hand action!

;)

 
At 11/03/2005 11:16 PM, Blogger Shari said...

That is so amazing! I would love to see a photo. My hubby is totally into birds (me too, but not as much as him) and he was so fascinated by your story. Now he wants to try it. :-)

 
At 11/06/2005 10:05 AM, Blogger SidDawgone said...

Interestingly there was a story recently about Dubya's brother Jeb down in Florida on a hunting trip with some buddies and being pestered by a couple of blue jays. Losing patience at the noise and interference, one of the hunters shot and killed a couple of the offending birds. Calling an early halt to the hunting party Jeb was later hospitalized for a short stay due to "severe intestinal upset", so it had been rumored that on a dare (presumably a drunken challenge but that had not been verified) he had indeed cooked and eaten these birds to destroy the evidence. This just certainly validates your blog entry that a bird in the hand is worth two in the Bush.

 
At 11/06/2005 5:53 PM, Blogger dkgoodman said...

LOL! Good one, SidDawg.

I've tried taking some shots of Jay landing, but it's been gloomy and the longer exposures results in a blur where a bird should be. Soon as it's brighter out I'll try again. Unless you're interested in a blue-blur eating out of my hand. :)

In recent developments, he's starting to perch on my fingers for up to a second.

 
At 11/07/2005 12:58 PM, Blogger Melissa said...

Are you sure that it's always the same bird? Maybe you have several trained birds but don't know it because they all look alike.

 

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