The story of Half-beak – her incredible will to survive and beat the odds
- Staci-lee Sherwood
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
By Staci-lee Sherwood
When most people think of Blue jays they probably don’t put them high on the list of birds they consider rare or spectacular. It’s estimated their global population is roughly 17 million, with over 80% living in the U.S. That might sound amazingly sustainable but you would be wrong. In recent years blue jay populations are on a downward trend with a global decrease about 27%. Predation by cats and dogs, pesticide use and logging of habitat are the main culprits and in recent years avian flu. Blue jays can be found along the eastern coast of the U.S., and the mid-west with only the southwest being excluded from their habitat.
Many species of birds have gone from having a thriving population into the millions only to end up extinct, so there’s no assumption this species is ‘safe’ from the same fate. The Passenger Pigeon went from billions to extinct for women’s hat feathers while the Ivory Billed Woodpecker went from widespread population to extinct from logging. The Eskimo curlew also went from millions to extinct from habitat loss and hunting. The loss of any species can happen in a blink of an eye which makes genuine conservation of the entire ecosystem paramount for all species.
A blue jay missing half her beak but still raising young means she is truly a very rare bird indeed.
In urban settings most of us see the blue jay as a common familiar sight. When you look at their coloring it’s a gorgeous array of blues mingled with jet black and white. Common or not this is a beautiful bird. They’re considered highly intelligent, as all members of the Corvid family of birds like crows and ravens are. It’s said they can even identify individual human faces when seen repeatedly. They also work together as a group often calling others when a predator is near or a surprise snack is seen being put out by people. This is the story of Half-beak, an adult female blue jay missing the top half of her beak and her will to survive and raise healthy chicks.
Raising her family
Blue jays typically live about seven years in the wild and the oldest recorded one lived to be seventeen. They reach maturity at about one year so that leaves six years to reproduce to keep future generations going. Chicks fledge at three weeks and stay with their parents for another couple of months while parents continue to feed them as they learn to fly and hunt. Navigating the world around them takes time and many species of birds and owls leave the nest before being able to fly because they outgrow the size of the nest. During this time the parents slowly wean them off their dependence so they learn to forage for themselves.
This is the most perilous and dangerous time for newly fledged young. Fledged chicks will squawk and flutter their wings very fast to indicate they’re hungry to their nearby parents. As time goes on the calls go unanswered and it’s time for the chicks to fend for themselves. If food is plentiful it’s not uncommon for extended blue jay families to share the same trees and foraging areas.
On April 30, 2023 I noticed what looked like a bird’s nest on the ground through my window. I went out and found three little blue jay chicks on the ground. They seemed to be about a week old, scared but unharmed. The parents knew the nest had fallen and were nearby, feeding them but unable to help. Plenty of stray cats roam the neighborhood so I scooped them up and placed them in a box. Their nest was mostly destroyed except for a few twigs which I placed in a makeshift nest using a plastic bowl. This was anchored to the truck of the nest tree about 10 feet up. After placing the chicks in their new home their parents arrived shortly to inspect them and their new home.
Three chicks stunned but healthy after their nest fell 2023
Half-beak and her brood in a makeshift nest using most of the old nest and secured to a tree
Half-beak tending to her brood
Half-beak calls her family after they fledged
Half-beak was an active participant in raising and feeding her young. I watched her through the window every day for two weeks while she and her mate tended to their three chicks. She kept them warm and dry during rainy days and chased away curious hawks. I watched for several weeks after the chicks fledged as they stayed in the area learning the ropes of blue jay adulthood.
Click video to watch Half-beak feeding her chicks alongside her mate
Her story continues
I hadn’t seen Half-beak for several months though birds flying high in the canopy of trees are impossible to identify. One day in early October I put out a trail cam curious to see what local wildlife might stop by the water bowl I put out. I also put out a few peanuts because food is scarce even in a seemingly healthy environment.
In Florida aerial spraying for mosquitoes takes place for months, these chemicals kill more than just their target species they also kill many other insects. Manicured lawns with non native plants are everywhere and require huge amounts of water and pesticides to survive. All those toxins kill off native wildlife and their natural food supply. Over time the ecosystem can fail once the lower chain of food (insects) declines then the small birds that depend on them decline too. Birds of prey follow as the whole food chain collapses. Droughts make this worse especially when so much of the vegetation is non native they require even more water and so the nasty cycle keeps going. For native birds that leaves little food for them to forage on their own.
Click video to watch Half-beak turning her head to scoop a peanut. Blue jays are quick learners
Here she’s got a peanut in her beak
I put out shelled and unshelled peanuts and she seemed to prefer the ones in a shell. The size might have been easier for her to scoop
Picking up an unshelled peanut as her last snack of the day
The odds against her survival
I don’t know how Half-beak ended up losing the top of her beak. Many things could have caused it from trauma to a window or car strike or getting her beak stuck in something. The fact that she’s able to feed herself is a testament to her will to survive including her ability to raise healthy young. She’s lucky it was her top beak that broke and not her bottom beak, which makes scooping up food easier. Missing a bottom beak would likely have meant starvation because turning a head to scoop food with only the top beak would be that much more difficult. It’s a rare sight to see a healthy bird with such an injury and if not for her innate intelligence and determination another bird might have perished sooner.
How you can help birds survive year round
Rule number #1 is never use pesticides (or rodenticides/herbicides etc). These are highly toxic cancer causing chemicals that stay in the atmosphere forever, we can’t really say for sure when or if they ever breakdown. Once sprayed, they cover everything and poison the food and water all wildlife need to survive. When used in the garden people inhale the nano particles which accumulate in the body over time causing many health issues.
You can help blue jays and all birds by putting out seeds and nuts for them with a bowl of fresh tap water.
Never use a hose to fill a water bowl, it’s not clean enough to drink and make sure the water is change daily. The same is true for birdbaths, standing water even from rain or melting snow attracts bacteria and quickly fills with dead insects so any water more than a day old would need to be dumped and refreshed.
Salmonella and Ecoli can contaminate commercial bird food so it’s important to buy from a reputable company that does not use pesticides or gmo seeds.
Many species love peanuts, including crows, cardinals, woodpeckers and squirrels, and even prefer them in a shell. Put out both to see which are preferred, always get raw which are found in any food store.
If you have even a little space plant native trees, bushes and wildflowers. This will attract insects and also provide seeds naturally. If you live in a cold climate birds need help getting through the winter and a handful of seeds and nuts left for them can make the difference between life and starvation
She is truly an inspiration for such a beautiful bird.