If you’ve been following my blog much this year, you’ve certainly seen some of the photos I’ve taken of Bluey (yes, I know, not exactly an original name) the eastern blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) this past spring and summer. Bluey is a pretty laid back blue jay, so I have assumed him to be young and without a mate, yet. He loves the fruit that I’ve been putting out in addition to the seed. Recently, I’ve also added some mealworms to the mix. A number of the birds are big fans, including Bluey. Then, last week he brought a friend. They were very friendly with each other, so they were obviously acquainted. That first time, the new bird acted pretty much like Bluey, and I couldn’t really tell them apart, but since then, the new one will show up, sometimes with Bluey, sometimes alone, eat a little bit, and then load up on mealworms. One bird (which I’m assuming is Bluey) will sometimes come back multiple times and eat, but never stocks up like the new one does. They look exactly alike, so I’m not sure who is the male, and who is the female, but I’m guessing that Bluey is the male, while the new bird is the female. I think that she is taking all those worms each day to feed the babies with, but I will probably never know for sure. For the most part, it doesn’t matter to me if they can manage to successfully raise a clutch.