My neighbor told me to put out crushed eggshells for blue jays - ended up with a backyard circus!

Mrs. Kline from three doors down swore up and down that blue jays love crushed eggshells for calcium. I saved up shells from 2 dozen eggs and scattered them on my feeder tray at 6am last Saturday. Within 10 minutes, I had 7 blue jays fighting over them like it was a buffet, plus a squirrel that kept trying to divebomb from the fence. The racket was so loud my husband came out in his bathrobe yelling "what is happening out here!" Has anyone else tried this and ended up with a total bird wrestlemania in their yard?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda7d agoTop Commenter

@king.robin you definitely got lucky with neighbor intel. Blue jays are like tiny dinosaurs when eggshells hit the scene. Total backyard chaos but honestly worth it for the show.

murray.drew7d ago

7 blue jays really feels more like a typical Tuesday than a circus to me. I get that they're loud but that sounds like pretty standard bird feeder action.

king.robin7d ago

Hang on, so your neighbor specifically said blue jays and you got exactly that. Did she mention any tricks to keep the squirrels away, or was this more of a "good luck with that" kind of tip? I've tried crushed eggshells myself for robins but never got more than two or three birds at once. The whole thing sounds like a lot more noise than I'd want at 6 in the morning.