Unlike blue jays, who can eat various foods, baby blue jays cannot eat as adult blue jays. They require specific foods for their growth until they become mature, and many people have asked the question, can baby blue jays eat worms?
The straightforward answer to this question is yes, baby blue jays can eat worms. Their parent blue jays feed them worms when they are young in the nest. Know how you can properly feed them worms.
Table of Contents:
- Are Worms Safe For Baby Blue Jays?
- Do Baby Blue Jays Like To Eat Worms?
- How To Feed Worms To Baby Blue Jays?
- How Often & How Much To Feed Worms To Baby Blue Jays?
- Can Baby Blue Jays Eat Mealworms?
- Do Baby Blue Jays Eat Earthworms?
- Can Baby Blue Jays Eat Whole Worms?
- Summary
Are Worms Safe For Baby Blue Jays?
Worms are completely safe for baby blue jays, and they can also feed on extreme diets like insects (caterpillars), and small vertebrates like worms.
Nevertheless, worms are considered safe for baby blue jays. It all depends on their eating habits. Also, worms are a great nutrition source for them. According to the research, 75% of blue jays’ diet consists of nuts, grains, and fruits.
You can feed worms to baby blue jays for their healthy development and growth along with their usual diet.
Do Baby Blue Jays Like To Eat Worms?
As we have discussed above, it all depends on their feeding habits. If parent blue jays feed their baby blue jay worms, they will start to love them. The majority of blue jays feed their babies earthworms because those are most commonly available, especially in rainy seasons.
If you are a licensed bird rehabber or have pet blue jays, you can develop their feeding pattern to eat worms. You can use mealworms, earthworms, or caterpillars.
Always remember that their 75 – 80% diet consists of vegetarian feed options that include nuts, grains, acorns, and fruits. If blue jays start to like eating worms, there’s nothing to worry about.
After all, they are having food full of protein, and you must know that almost all birds crave protein, and so do the blue jays.
How To Feed Worms To Baby Blue Jays?
If you don’t know how to serve worms properly to baby blue jays, they will not bother to look at the protein-rich feed. Baby blue jays can eat different types of worms.
You can buy a batch of live worms to attract baby blue jays to feed on them. You can feed worms to baby blue jays to accelerate their healthy growth.
Once you bought the worms, please place them in a shallow container with a perforated lid to ensure air circulation.
To make sure baby blue jays find the food container attractive, place some chopped fruits, grains, and seeds along with the worms. This will also help worms eat better and make them a good healthy diet for blue jays.
You could store worms in the refrigerator if you bought them in larval form (mealworms). This will help slow their growth, and baby blue jays will like to eat mealworms more than an earthworm.
If you are opting to serve earthworms, don’t place them directly in the soil. Because in that case, other competitor birds will eat them away. Always choose a shallow platform with a bit of soil and place it above the ground. This will stimulate blue jays to find and eat them.
Always remember that worms act as supplement food for baby blue jays. So don’t forget to add their regular diet along with it. Otherwise, only feeding worms can cause vitamin deficiencies for both baby and adult blue jays.
How Often & How Much To Feed Worms To Baby Blue Jays?
As mentioned before, you should expect to serve a batch of 100 worms of your choice per day in two separate servings. So they know where they can find them easily.
You can always change the worm types on the basis of the feeding patterns of baby blue jays. It has been enforced several times not to neglect the regular diet of baby blue jays because they will be only attracted to it and find their taste of choice worms along with them.
Worms are full of proteins but lack essential vitamins, minerals, and fat content. So it would be best if you will serve only a 20% portion of worms along with casual feed options.
Once you successfully attract blue jays to eat worms, you can change the daily feed amount according to their eating patterns.
Can Baby Blue Jays Eat Mealworms?
Yes, mealworms are one of the favorite choices of worms for birds, including blue jays. Mealworms are misunderstood as complete worms.
They are larval forms of the mealworm beetle. You can also choose dried mealworms as an option in winter. But the live mealworms are more appealing to blue jays as compared to dried ones.
Although dried mealworms are a less costly and efficient feed option in extreme weather conditions, in the regular season, when natural feed options are abundant for blue jays, they will not prefer dried worms.
So it all depends on seasonal changes and blue jays’ eating patterns. You can observe their patterns and can make the feeding more efficient.
Do Baby Blue Jays Eat Earthworms?
As mentioned earlier, baby blue jays will eat everything their parent blue jays bring them. If they are used to eating earthworms, they will be happy to eat earthworms. In another scenario, you can let them choose which type of worms they like more.
Can Baby Blue Jays Eat Whole Worms?
Yes, they can eat whole worms. As they are young, they will get used to what you feed them. But in the case of whole worms, you have to consider the size of worms before serving them as baby blue jays may not be able to eat up a whole worm at a very young age.
Summary
Blue jays have been known to eat insects, rodents, and vertebrates in different seasons as part of their extreme diet habits. We still don’t know why some blue jays have these extreme eating patterns.
Do keep in mind that this extreme feeding habit is not based on starvation. But it’s all something natural they do.
According to research, only 2% of blue jays species have this extreme feeding habit. But not all people know can baby blue jays eat worms or not.
The above article will help you to properly feed worms to baby blue jays without creating any trouble. If you have any doubts regarding about topic, please feel free to comment down below.
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