Feeder guide by bird

Blue Jay Feeder

A blue jay feeder needs a ledge: Blue Jays prefer tray feeders or hopper feeders on a post rather than hanging feeders, and they prefer peanuts, sunflower seeds and suet ⁴.

Everything below about feeder design, foods, placement and cleaning is drawn from Project FeederWatch ¹² and All About Birds ³⁴.

Blue jay — a bird that prefers a tray or hopper blue jay feeder on a post — Photo: Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What blue jays eat

Jays glean insects and take nuts, seeds and grain; over a year stomach contents are about 22 percent insect, with acorns, nuts, fruit and grain nearly all the rest ⁴. At feeders: peanuts, sunflower seeds and suet ⁴. Larger birds like jays may grab several peanuts at a time and fly off to hide them for later ¹ — jays cache food, so a tray of whole peanuts disappears faster than it is eaten.

Which blue jay feeder to choose

Large hoppers attract most species of feeder birds and allow larger species to feed ¹, and a post-mounted hopper or tray is exactly what jays prefer ⁴. Feeders with short perches exclude larger birds such as grackles and jays ¹, so if you want jays, do not rely on a tube. Jays often take drinks from birdbaths, and planting oaks provides acorns for future jays ⁴.

Jays sometimes dominate a feeder; at Florida feeders they are themselves dominated by Red-headed Woodpeckers, scrub-jays, grackles and squirrels ⁴. If they crowd out smaller birds, add a second, short-perch tube the jays cannot use ¹.

Placement, squirrels and windows

Place feeders close to natural cover such as trees or shrubs, which offer birds refuge from predators, but not so close to strong branches that squirrels can jump across — a distance of about 10 feet is the usual guidance ¹. Windows are the other hazard: collisions kill perhaps a billion or more birds a year in North America, and older rules about safe feeder-to-window distances are no longer thought valid — if a window is near a feeder, treat the glass with markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart, external screens or cords, rather than worrying about the distance ³.

Squirrel baffles — barriers placed between squirrels and feeders — are usually the best defense. Squirrels can jump to feeders placed less than ten feet from a tree or building, so a pole-mounted feeder in the open with a baffle below it, or a tilting baffle at least 18 inches in diameter above a hanging feeder, is the arrangement that works ¹.

Keeping the feeder clean and the birds healthy

Clean seed and suet feeders regularly — every week or two, and more often during heavy use or wet weather — by scrubbing off debris and washing the parts thoroughly with warm water and dish soap ¹. Hummingbird feeders need cleaning far more often, every couple of days and ideally every time they are refilled; discard the solution and clean immediately at any sign of cloudy water or black mold ¹.

If a sick bird appears — House Finch eye disease shows as red, swollen, runny or crusty eyes, and avian pox as wart-like growths around the eye, bill, legs and feet — remove the feeders the bird is using for a couple of weeks and clean the feeders and the area thoroughly, so disease is not spread at the feeder ². Salmonellosis, caused by Salmonella bacteria, is a common cause of mortality in feeder birds and spreads the same way ².

Recommended feeder types

Platform Feeder →Peanut Feeder →Full bird profile →Plants for this bird →

More feeder guides

Platform Feeder →Hopper Feeder →Tube Feeder →Suet Feeder →Hummingbird Feeder →Window Feeder →Tube vs hopper feeder →Suet vs seed feeder →Black oil sunflower feeder →Squirrel proof bird feeder →No birds at the feeder? →

Frequently asked questions

Do blue jays like apples at a blue jay feeder?

Fruit is a small part of their diet; at feeders All About Birds lists peanuts, sunflower seeds and suet as their preferences ⁴.

What is the best feeder for blue jays?

A tray or hopper feeder on a post with whole peanuts and sunflower; they avoid hanging tube feeders ¹⁴.

How often should I clean a bird feeder?

Every week or two for seed and suet feeders, more often in wet weather or heavy use; every couple of days for hummingbird feeders. Scrub, then wash with warm water and dish soap ¹.

How far should a feeder be from a window?

Distance rules are no longer considered valid; instead make any nearby window bird-safe with markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart, exterior screens, or hanging cords ³.