# Blue Jay = Small Peacock?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 31, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237 "2015-05-31T03:10:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237/1 "2015-05-31T03:10:08Z")
I’m not sure which forum this goes in, but I guess I want to encourage y’all to speculate, so I’ll try here.
Today, I looked out the window in my backyard and saw something bright blue in the grass. At first I thought it was a sneaker or something, then I looked more carefully and saw that it was a blue jay, with it’s wings and tail fully spread out, with every flight feather showing. It was just sitting there, and I wondered if the cat had killed or wounded it, leaving it in that awkward position. Then I made a small noise, and the bird heard me, and cocked its head in my direction. Shortly after that, it gathered itself together and flew off, looking completely normal.
Do blue jays display like peacocks? Could it be looking for a second clutch? (It seems late to start a first clutch, I saw several songbird egg shells in the lawn about a month ago.)
Alternatively, it might have been taking a dust bath. I walked over to where I saw it, and there was a bird-sized dusty depression in the ground. But when I see sparrows “dust bathing”, they move around. This bird was sitting completely still.
So–what did I see?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237/2 "2015-05-31T03:24:33Z")
If it was [spread out like this](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/14329820080_967c1f7b29.jpg) it may have been [anting.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_%28bird_activity%29) Birds allow ants to climb on them or rub them on their bodies, probably to control parasites.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237/3 "2015-05-31T03:27:47Z")
Thanks! That’s just what it looked like. And there are ants in that part of the lawn.
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### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jay-small-peacock/721237/4 "2015-05-31T04:38:44Z")
Or just [sunning](http://birding.about.com/od/birdbehavior/a/Bird-Sunning.htm). I worked with a crow at the zoo whose favourite thing in the world was sunbathing.