Clever jays switch food-finding tactics

Jays demonstrate "flexible tactics" by switching between storing food and stealing from others' stashes, scientists have found.

The woodland birds are known as the shy members of the notoriously intelligent corvid family.

But birds were observed boldly stealing food from subordinates' hiding places in the University of Cambridge study.

Researchers found that the jays' strategy was dependent on the relative social rank of their opponent.

The results are published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Eurasian jays live in woodlands and feed primarily on acorns. Past studies by the University of Cambridge team have highlighted the birds' remarkable ability to plan for the future by storing thousands of the nuts and returning to them later.


Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19660267



More information on the jay ( Garrulus glandarius ):

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/j/jay/

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/jay.htm