Jays & Booby Birds (stunning blue nature colours)
Blue is one of the rarest colours in nature. Less than one in ten plants are blue. And even less percentage for birds and other wildlife. Blue fruits and vegetables don’t really exist (the anthocyanin compound with health benefits in blueberries and blackberries is actually purple).
Jays (forgetful, so help to plant oak trees!)
Jays are one of England’s most exotic-looking birds. In fact, you may do a double-take, when you first see a bright blue wing patch, as it’s so unusual in this part of the world. Their feathers are actually brown, the ‘blue’ is due to the scattering of light (a bit like polar bears, who have translucent, rather than white fur).
The other way to easily recognise jay birds, is because they have black moustaches! One of England’s species of crows, jays are ‘noisy chatterboxes’ that you may hear screeching in the park, but are unlikely to see. As they often hide away.
What’s important (and quite funny) about jays, is that they are very forgetful. So they hunt for acorns, then store them away, often forget where they put some of them, so are almost single-handedly responsible for many of England’s beautiful oak trees!
Oak trees (and acorns) are unsafe near pets, horse and livestock, so keep them well away.
Jays also eat fruits, beetles and caterpillars (which is why we must protect butterfly habitats). They can mimic calls of other birds, to deter predators.
All UK crows are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Report concerns to Crimestoppers Wildlife Crime (anonymous).
Keeping jays safe in gardens & woodland
- Although jays are more likely to visit woodland, keep cats indoors at dawn and dusk (when birds are likely feeding) and avoid wooden bird feeders (cats can claw up them).
- Get involved in community efforts to provide natural habitats for birds like hedgerows (berries!) and tree-planting, to provide natural roosts. Also read ways to prevent birds flying into windows (turning off lights, not facing foliage to gardens and only placing feeders closer than 3 feet or more than 10 feet away from glass windows and greenhouses). There are also good ‘screens’ to help (more effective than decals).
Bluebells (England’s spring woodland flowers)
Bluebells are one of England’s favourite woodland flowers, which often signal the arrival of the spring season. Many other wild flowers are blue including cornflowers, delphiniums and hydrangeas (though some spring flowers like crocuses, tulips, snowdrops and daffodils are not).
All bulb flowers are toxic to humans and pets, so keep them away from flower-nosey animal friends. Read more on pet-friendly gardens.
Bluebells are protected wildflowers (so you can’t pick them) which take years to grow from seed, so also need protection from footfall damage (so don’t walk on them). Half of the world’s bluebells are found in the UK, often in woods that transform to a ‘carpet of blue’ each spring.
The sticky bulb sap was used in book-binding (and glue for arrows). The starch in the bulbs was also used to make stiff Elizabethan ruffs and collars.
Pollinators like bees and butterflies adore bluebells, as do hoverflies (these are harmless flies that look a bit like bees, which also are pollinators and natural pest controllers). They only have one pair of wings, and can’t sting.
Many ancient bluebell woods in England are also home to migrating birds, who travel thousands of miles to breed (including blackcap, wood warbler, nightingale and chiffchaff).
There is a silent eloquence
In every wild bluebell
That fills my softened heart with bliss.
That words could never tell.
Anne Brontë
Blue-Footed Booby Birds (from the Americas)
The blue-footed booby bird is not native to England (found from Mexico to Peru). ‘Booby’ is apparently the Spanish word for silly! But this is no silly bird, it’s a clever bird whose habitat we need to protect. Their colour comes from carotenoids, due to fish they eat (just like flamingos are pink, due to eating shrimp).
Blue is a rare colour in the animal kingdom, so you can imagine how proud this bird is of his bright blue feet! When he wants to attract a partner, he performs a mating dance, and shows off his feet. Whoever has the most blue tootsies, gets the girl!
Despite their comical appearance on land, blue-footed booby birds are skilful underwater hunters. They are able to dive at high speed, due to air sacs in their brains that cushion impact. Their nostrils also seal shut underwater, so they can breathe through their beaks. Similar to how kingfishers work! Isn’t nature wonderful?
Chicks are born with fluffy white down and grey feet, only turning blue later on after they eat fish (presumably blue ones!) Pairs mate for life, with both parents incubating eggs by keeping them warm under their webbed feet (like penguins). They lay eggs on bare ground. Typically on larger chicks survive, often outcompeting younger siblings for food. Nature is sad too.
Morocco’s Blue City (inspiration from abroad)
Morocco is a land far away, but there is a lot to learn from this ancient country. Chefchaouen is known as ‘the blue city’, as all houses and shops are painted different shades of blue.
It’s believed the blue-washed walls were first introduced by Jewish refugees in the Rif Mountains, to symbolise heaven. The name of the city comes from a word meaning to ‘look at the horns’ (of surrounding mountain peaks).
Until the 1920s, it was a holy city where non-Muslims were forbidden to enter. Many residents still speak Spanish (a ‘Spanish mosque’ sits on a hill overlooking the town).
The area is known for its colourful straw hats and growing cannabis. And also a community that feeds stray cats, with fish from local rivers.
Donkeys remain a main form of transport in Morocco. So donate to The Donkey Sanctuary, which uses funds to help rescue, medically treat and educate people who use donkeys for work or transport abroad.
Barbary macaque monkeys are native to Morocco, known for their female-led structure (dads carry the babies!) They live here in the Atlas mountains and also in Gibraltar. They need help from habitat loss and illegal wildlife trade. Read more on how to help prevent wildlife crime.
