Jan 02 2009
Attracting Jay
Last winter, I noticed blue jays digging into a planter I left out on the deck. I actually had a few pots with soil left out, but only one that they kept going back to. I couldn’t figure out what was so special about that one flower pot until the snow melted in the spring and I could see what was inside—egg shells.
In the summer, the pot had held a tomato plant which I put broken chicken egg shells around, hoping to give the plant a little bit of extra nutrients.
According to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/Birdscope/Winter1998/BCAP98121.htm there was a study conducted to investigate the use of calcium, in the form of chicken egg shells, by North American birds. The results showed that Scrub Jays and Blue Jays took eggshells more than three times as frequently as any other species, 63 percent and 43 percent respectively. So, it seems I stumbled upon a great way of attracting blue jays to my yard.
I had been collecting our eggshell all last winter, crushing them and scattering them into my little garden bed. I even tried the coffee grinder, which made a slightly stinky yet fine powder. Lately, I’ve gotten lazy. I have been chucking them in the backyard in halves and letting my son, or myself, crush them by stomping on them. Talk about walking on eggshells. Ha!
I just think it’s also a small way of composting, without the mess of decomposing plants or food items and without drawing too many wild critters.
