Autumn is the busiest season of the year for the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius). This is when jays are most noticeable, flying through woods and parks to collect acorns and bury them in the ground. Storing food like this is called caching, and it gives the birds something to eat in the leaner months of winter.
Here is the twist: jays don't find every acorn again. The ones they forget can grow into oak trees. The Woodland Trust even credits these forgotten snacks with the rapid spread of oaks after the last Ice Age. So when Pori says the jay is planting a forest, that is only a small exaggeration.
In this Scan of the week, Pori looks up in an autumn beech wood. Beech woods are jay country too: squirrels, jays and mice all feed on acorns and beechnuts. That is the Easter egg. Did you spot the triangular beechnuts on the path?
Jays are shy, but they are loud. Listen for a screeching call; it usually means a jay is nearby, often on the move between the trees. The two jay photos in the clip are real observations shared on iNaturalist under a CC BY licence; the forest and Pori are drawn.
Scan of the week is part of our pilot of short clips that send young people outside, ideally with someone, to find one real species near them.
Found in this clip
- Eurasian jayGarrulus glandarius
- European beech (beechnuts)Fagus sylvaticahidden in the clip
Try it outside
Go to a wood or a park with old oaks or beeches this week, with your family, friends or your class. Stand still for two minutes and listen for a harsh, screeching call; you will often hear a jay before you see it. Then watch for a bird flying between the trees with a white flash on its rump. Look at the ground too: how many acorns or beechnuts can you count without picking any up?
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Illustrations and Pori's voice made with AI; the jay photos are real.
All field notes