We all know blue jays are noisy, but smart.

Today I saw a bunch of birds eating and a blue jay was watching from a distance because it was crowded, you can tell it wanted that food! All of a sudden it sounds a danger/alarm call and all the birds flew off. With no competition, the blue jay now flies down to grab all the food it wants. It tricked the other birds I couldn't believe it there was no danger!

They've tried it on me wanting me out of the feeding area. Didn't work, though. :D

One thing about jays, they can get LOUD! The western jays we have here do that also. The jays and woodpeckers both make a lot of noisy calls to get other birds to leave the feeders. Some birds ignore the noise, but then when the large bird swoops in toward the feeder, they usually give in for a while! The deer won't leave the food until they are ready, however. Their size trumps the jay and woodpecker pretty much!

We had a blue jay last year that actually made a hawk sound to clear the birds away from the feeder. It worked enough that he kept doing it.

Blue jays and crows, both noisy and smart!

When I was a teenager I set a live trap in my yard to catch squirrels and a Blue Jay got caught instead. When I went to let him out, he started to squawk draw other Jays. The other birds dived on me and peck me in the head drawing blood. Let me tell, they peck hard. Another time I tossed some raw peanuts in the yard. A Blue Jay landed on the ground and would pick up a peanuts and shake it, drop it, pick up another shake, until he found the best one. He flew up in a tree, ate it, then flew back down to start the process all over.

I sometimes call the Jays, "Picky Petes". :D We've caught many birds in our live trap, but never a Jay.

I used to think Jays were bullies, but then we got Red-bellied Woodpeckers. We are in such a habitat that we have Western Meadowlarks year-round and some have actually braved going to a platform feeder to get peanuts. A Red-belly did NOT like that and tried bullying the WEME. The Meadowlark would take none of that which confused the woodpecker.

Horntoad said:A Blue Jay landed on the ground and would pick up a peanuts and shake it, drop it, pick up another shake, until he found the best one. He flew up in a tree, ate it, then flew back down to start the process all over.

@Horntoad

I've seen them do that also. They're looking for the meatiest peanut.