What are some fascinating facts about blue jay birds?

Blue jays are bright blue corvids with black beaks that live in the Eastern and Midwestern North Americas, according to National Geographic. These birds mate for life and act as seed disbursal animals that bury seeds and acorns to store them for later.

Blue jays have a reputation as an aggressive bird that dive bombs people and eats the eggs of other songbirds. However, there is much more to this bird. These birds are intelligent, sociable and long-lived.

• Blue Jays are omnivores that eat a mix of insects, seeds and the occasional egg.
• Blue Jays have been observed making simple tools to crack open seed food.
• These birds find a mate in their first year of life and are monogamous, staying mated for life, according to BioKids.
• The males court the females to win mates by fluffing up their feathers, raising their crests and lowering themselves submissively in front of a female.
• Blue jays bury a lot of food for the winter and often don't come back for it, so the seeds sprout into new plants.
• Females sit on their eggs non-stop for 17 to 18 days until they hatch and the males bring them food.
• One female Blue Jay in captivity lived for 26 years and 3 months, according to BioKids.