Abstract
Have you ever dreamed of the "Bluebird of Happiness" landing on your shoulder' It can happen, and luckily, it did happen to me.
One bright and breezy early summer afternoon in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, my mother, my five-year-old daughter, and I were walking along a quiet, winding road near our summer home in the mountain woodlands. Suddenly a young bird with cornflower blue feathers and a bright blue crest flew from the surrounding woods and landed confidently on my shoulder. It was a beautiful young Blue Jay with the headiest, shiniest black eyes I had ever seen. He was completely fearless and after an inquisitive look into my eyes, peeked into my mouth which was now open wide in amazement at what had just transpired.
Thinking that this was a wild bird so disoriented that it had lost its natural fear of humans, we turned and started
walking toward home, hoping to take the Blue jay indoors and figure out just what was wrong with him. On the way home, he repeatedly flew off into the woods and then back onto my shoulder, but I felt sure that he would fly away when I attempted to walk into the house with him. Amazingly, as I cautiously entered the house, the friendly bird stayed put, looking more curious than afraid. Once inside, I took him into a small room and offered him my hand. He stepped right up with a look that seemed to say, "What's up Doc?" He
then allowed me to examine him from stem to stem as I became more and more curious about this seemingly healthy "wild" bird who had no fear of humans; indeed, he seemed to like us.
While we worried that any minute he would start to show signs of illness, he flew around exploring every nook and cranny of his newly-found playhouse - a chalet-style house with ceilings so high that even a resident of the sky felt right at home. He immediately took inventory of all things bright and shiny and he wasted no time laying claim to his many new treasures.
The rules of his game were simple - whatever he could carry in his beak was his. While we tried to tempt him with food and water, he busily gathered all the bright coins, marbles, and other objects that caught his eye. It seemed that the objective of his earlier search of the house had been not only to find hidden treasures, but to search for places to stash the loot. It was open season on any and all good hiding places, such as light fixtures, book shelves, and cabinet tops. What a busy bird he was. Blue Jays in the wild hide and bury seeds and acorns for leaner times to come, planting many trees in the process. At least our blue feathered friend's instincts were very' much intact.
After all his hard work, we knew that our guest must be hungry, and a quick search of the Nature Encyclopedia told us that this busy bundle of blue feathers needed bugs. The natural food source of Blue Jays is acorns and other vegetable matter but they also relish protein-providing insects.
When darkness fell, all the deck lights were switched on, and no poor Katydid that was drawn to the bright lights escaped the busy hands of two excited young girls intent on catching dinner for their new friend, "BJ," as he now had been dubbed. He was a happy feathered camper as he eagerly gulped down the winged and wiggly insects caught lovingly just for him. He then threw back his head over and over as he took down many a beakful of pure, cool mountain water, (perhaps to chase the buggy taste of those Katydids). After a few seeds - we were unforgivably out of acorns - and a peanut for dessert, he started nodding off so we set off on a tour of the house
trying to think like Blue Jays in search of a suitable roosting site.
BJ chose the highest available perch - a shower curtain rod in a quiet guest bath. He was clearly fascinated by the sixties-style psychedelic looking wallpaper. While he slept, we pondered the mysteries of our most exotic houseguest ever. We collected our resources and set about to learn more about "Blue Jay ways."
We learned that Eastern Blue Jays generally are about 13 inches long with a wingspan over a foot wide; that they are members of the Corvidae family which includes 40 or so different crows, as well as magpies, jackdaws, rooks, and nutcrackers; and that Corvids are considered to be extremely intelligent birds with the Blue Jay members of the family having mischievous personalties as well as a raucous 'Jay! Jay!" call. Recently, when I read new research on the Corvids suggesting that they possess powers of abstract reasoning, creativity, memory, and insight that put them on a par with many mammals, including primates, I was not at all surprised after having observed our own resident Blue Jay.
Now I must point out that a Blue Jay waking up in a new house is about a hundred times more excited than you and I were upon awakening on our first morning of summer camp. There were new people and new places to see, and so much to do. There is no such word as "boredom" in Jaybird speak. Every object in BJ's view was a toy just waiting to be activated by the antics conjured up in his hyperactive imagination.
The light string in the top of a closet caught his eye and in a blurring flash of blue, he was Tarzan swinging through the jungle of closet "junque" on his makeshift vine! A jewelry box was an unbelievable find for BJ - a treasure trove of unimaginable value and he didn't even need a treasure map. He was instantly transformed into "Bluebeard, pirate on a mission!" Finder's keepers! Grab all the gold and precious jewels that a beak can carry and it's every bird for himself] Yipeeee!
BJ had already struck it rich in his new home. We were awed by the sheer energy with which he pursued his many adventures. His intense curiosity was a wondrous and endless
thing. Absolutely nothing escaped his notice!
After a few fun days indoors, it became obvious that BJ was a happy and healthy bird so we reluctantly set him free, watching him leave us from our upper deck in the tree tops. He flew off into the woods and we wistfully waved good-bye to our muchloved feathered friend.
"Huh? Good-bye? You think I'm leaving? No way!" he seemed to say as he banked a steep left and flew back into the house. Hurray! We obviously were blessed with an indoor/ outdoor wildbird pet. Never have I enjoyed hiking in my beloved wild woods more than when accompanied by BJ, who excitedly flew from tree to tree, calling to me as we explored the forest wilderness together.