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Tried putting out crushed eggshells and the blue jays went crazy for them

I started crushing up eggshells from breakfast about two weeks ago and tossing them on the ground near my feeder. I thought maybe the cardinals or sparrows would pick at them for calcium. Instead, a pair of blue jays showed up within 10 minutes and cleaned every single piece in under an hour. Now they come by every morning around 8 and squawk until I put more out. I guess I learned that blue jays are way more into shells than I expected. Has anyone else seen a specific bird go nuts for something weird like this?
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wadeg92
wadeg9211d ago
A buddy of mine had a similar thing happen with his sunflower seed feeder. He started putting out plain dry oats on the ground for the pigeons and doves, and within a week a whole flock of grackles took over the spot. They'd sit on his fence line and scream until he put more out. He ended up having to switch to a different kind of bird food just to get a little peace and quiet.
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caleb_gibson
Hold up, I gotta disagree a little. Grackles are smart and they'll take advantage of any easy food, but switching food types just encourages them to figure out a new favorite. Better to just take the feeder down for a few days and let them move on, they'll forget about your yard pretty quick.
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