As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 3 July 2016

Campgrounds alter jay behavior


Date: June 29, 2016
Source: Central Ornithology Publication Office

Anyone who's gone camping has seen birds foraging for picnic crumbs, and according to new research in The Condor: Ornithological Applications, the availability of food in campgrounds significantly alters jays' behavior and may even change how they interact with other bird species.

Steller's Jays are intelligent, adaptable birds, and in California's Redwood National and State Parks, the ready availability of food draws them to campgrounds. Tracking the behavior of jays near living near campgrounds and comparing it with jays living in more natural areas of the same parks, Will Goldenberg of Humboldt State University and his colleagues found that having easy access to food made jays living near campgrounds less territorial. Campground jays spent less time foraging and more time near the ground than their counterparts without access to campgrounds.


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