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Blue Jays have always been an artistic inspiration, from baseball teams to famous songs. So, why would anyone want to get rid of them? Well, if you’ve never met one, you might be shocked by all the hate these gorgeous birds get.

Despite their beauty, Blue Jays are aggressive—they tend to attack any creature that gets too close, which might lead to scaring all those gorgeous songbirds away from your garden.

Therefore, if you want to restore peace in your backyard, you’ll need to learn how to get rid of Blue Jays. In this article, I’ll give you nine ideas to try out. Stick around!

Why Get Rid of Blue Jays

Do you remember right before the iconic moment in “To Kill a Mockingbird” where Atticus Finch tells Jem and Scout that shooting a mockingbird is a sin? At that time, he gives the okay to “shoot all the Blue Jays you want.”

Atticus’ words would infuriate the fowl-protecting Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) today. However, as the Audubon Society admits, even bird lovers love to hate Blue Jays. In short, Blue Jays are both beautiful songbirds and airborne jerks.

There are several reasons for Blue Jays’ unpopularity, including:

• Being loud
• Pushing out smaller birds
• Eating all of your bird feeder’s nuts and seeds
• Causing a mess when eating
• Forming gangs sometimes
• Being aggressive, attacking people and pets

9 Easy Ways To Get Rid of Blue Jays

Are you done saying “OK Blue Jays” and are looking for a “Blue Jay Way” to get rid of them? The following nine methods allow you to do so without having to take Atticus’ words literally and actually start shooting “all the Blue Jays you want.” Take a look!

1. Place a Fake Owl

Blue Jays may be bothersome bully birds. Yet, like most bullies, all it takes is someone bigger for them to back off. In the wild, owls fill that niche nicely. After all, they’re legitimate predators.

Of course, finding a wild owl to work for you or purchasing and training one aren’t feasible options. Thankfully, a fake decoy owl may be just as good as the real thing for the same reason a scarecrow scares off crows despite not actually being a threat.

Yes, Blue Jays may be smarter than most average birds, but that doesn’t mean they’re super intelligent when it comes to distinguishing a fake owl from a real one. So, a single fake owl, a few convincing rubber snakes, or something similar can scare Blue Jays away.

In all cases, try to move around the fake owl now and then because birds can notice when a specific item stays in place for more than two days.

2. Get a Cat

When a fake predator doesn’t do the trick, you might need to consider moving on to the real thing. Cats have an instinct for hunting birds, and they seem to like smaller ones like jays.

If you leave your cat outdoors, it may solve your problem and nab a jay or two.

Your cat may even bring the bird’s body back to you to show off their success proudly. You could probably do without such situations, but one problem at a time.

The good thing about cats is that they do the same function as fake owls and snakes. So, even if they don’t catch the Blue Jays, they’ll definitely scare them away. Blue Jays see and identify cats as a threat (correctly this time). So, they’ll likely avoid the area altogether.

3. Hang Some Wind Chimes

Blue Jays tend to dislike the sounds wind chimes create because it’s unfamiliar to them. Besides, their bright colors may dissuade blue jays from landing on them.

Those lovely ornaments offer an opportunity to unleash your creativity while being a completely nonviolent solution. They come in various highly reflective materials like metal, crystalline, and liquid crystal.

Conveniently, you can purchase a wind chime online or make your own. There are many fantastic methods and designs for making wind chimes. So, Google around a bit and see which one best suits your needs.

4. Blast Music

Birds may be natural songbirds, but they can’t compete with the Byrds, Eagles, a Flock of Seagulls, or even non-avian-named bands. Whatever your taste in music, Blue Jays probably can’t match the high volume of loud music.

Of course, you don’t want to blast that music 24/7 (and even if you do, your neighbors certainly don’t). Therefore, consider hooking your speakers up to a digital device set to a timer. Even better, get a security system triggered by a bird’s presence.

If you want an easier solution, here are a couple of devices you can give a try:

• Noise Cannons: Such a device lets out a loud boom every few minutes to scare birds away. However, if you have close neighbors, you might want to think twice before getting one.
• Bird Distress Calls: Similar to sound cannons, this device makes noises. However, it’s bird distress sounds rather than loud booms. It can be fantastic for keeping the Blue Jays away, but it’s not the least noisy solution.
• Ultrasonic Bird Deterrents: These deterrents emit high-frequency sound waves that aren’t pleasant for birds but are undetectable for the human ears.

5. Be More Creative With Your Feeder

If Blue Jays are taking over your bird feeder, it may be time to update it. Doing so keeps them from being such bully birds and levels the playing field for the rest of the birds who frequent it.

All you need to do is examine your bird feeder and see how to limit access for Blue Jays. For example, you might want to take a look at the tubing and mesh around the feeder trays.

Ideally, it should be constructed in a way that the mesh surrounds the feeding tube. That way, smaller birds can pass through and enter the chamber. Meanwhile, Blue Jays and other large bully birds remain stuck on the outside, eating the seeds that filter out past the mesh.

Such a technique offers a suitable compromise that allows birds of all sizes to eat at your feeder.

6. Clear Away Stray Seeds

Remember that part about Blue Jays being messy eaters? They also don’t mind feasting on the mess other birds leave behind.

As with many animals, if you want to get rid of them, you need to cut off their food source. However, even if you deny them access to the feeder, there are still plenty of seeds for them to enjoy on the floor.

So, to prevent scavenging Blue Jays from cleaning up after you or other messy birds at your bird feeder, make sure to do so yourself first.

7. Set Up Alternative Feeders and Seeds

Maybe you don’t want to get rid of the Blue Jays completely. Yet, you just wish they wouldn’t be such a bully to all the other birds around your birdfeeder. If that’s the case, a great alternative is to set up another bird feeder dedicated to them.

For a somewhat lower-tech variation of this solution, create a longer perch and slip a soda bottle on top of each end. While smaller birds should be okay, larger bully birds, such as Blue Jays, are too heavy. As a result, the bottle starts spinning, causing them to lose their balance.

As for the type of seeds served, Blue Jays can sometimes be picky. For example, they tend to dislike safflower. So, you can opt for serving it among other seeds Blue Jays don’t like, and they’ll leave your feeder alone.

8. Weight the Perch.

Most of the time, a Blue Jay’s weight is one of its major advantages versus the smaller birds it bullies away from feeders. However, you can turn that advantage into a liability with a bit of ingenuity.

You may do so by creating weight-sensitive perches. With a simple triggering mechanism, the perch drops the too-heavy bird below the feeding area.

This can keep Blue Jays (as well as animals like squirrels) from eating at the feeder. At the same time, it lets smaller birds perch and eat in peace.

Similarly, you may want to consider adding feeding areas that lack a perch entirely. These can be accessible for lighter birds, such as hummingbirds. It allows for competition-free feeding without the presence of larger bully birds who need a perch to eat, including Blue Jays.

9. Use a Mirror

Despite their cleverness, Blue Jays are still susceptible to thinking their reflection is another bird. That’s why placing a mirror inside your feeder may just do the trick and spook them off. Either way, there’s a decent chance they’ll fly away and look for food elsewhere.

Final Thoughts

Blue Jays are beautiful creatures. Yet, that doesn’t mean everyone wants them hanging around their bird feeder or home all the time. Not only do they scare the other songbirds away, but they’re also loud and messy. So, how to get rid of Blue Jays?

Luckily, there are many ways to do so without hurting the birds. If you’d like to bid a Blue Jay good day while sending them on their way, the methods above can help you do so in a peaceful manner.

If you want more backyard tips, including recipes, how-tos, and more, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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