The Bird that Plays hide-and-seek

Have you ever played hide-and-seek? This week, I encountered a bird that is the master of hide-and-seek. Only it isn’t looking for hidden birds, like we might look for a friend during the game. Instead, this bird is looking for snacks it has tucked away into secret stashes across the forest—and it remembers just where to find them months later.

 

When I heard this bird’s call, I wasn’t sure what it was. It sounded a bit like a mechanical dinosaur, in my opinion. I pulled out the Merlin Bird ID app and hit record on my phone. When the bird called again, the app showed me it was a Scrub-Jay, a dusty blue and gray bird around the same size as the more familiar Blue Jay. I’ve encountered this bird before, but not often, so this was a treat. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I raised my gaze and quickly spotted the blue bird in a bush about one hundred feet away.

 

Scrub-Jays are in the Corvid family along with blue jays and other jays, ravens, crows, magpies, and some other birds. Birds in this family have a reputation for being very smart and having an amazing memory. Scrub-Jays will hide food in thousands of places throughout the forest and remember exactly where they tucked them. This is called “scatter-hoarding” and is very important. When fresh food is harder to find in colder months, the jays can go out and retrieve a snack or a much-needed meal from one of their stashes. In some cases, a jay will hide around 6,000 seeds in one season and remember where most of them are. I sometimes have a hard time remembering where I placed my car keys!

 

Hiding food stashes is a matter of life or death for a Scrub-Jay. Just as they carefully hide nutritious food they will need in harsh seasons, we can hide away morsels of God’s truth to keep us going when times get tough. We can memorize Scripture, hiding it in our minds and hearts, so when we face challenges, we know right where to find the hope, peace, and promises we need.

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

Dear God, help me to spend time memorizing your Word. When I face a hard time, bring to my mind the truth and promises from Scripture.

Fun Fact:

Some seeds may be forgotten or not used by a Jay. In this case, the seeds sometimes sprout in the ground, and new plants grow. God designed Scrub-Jays to be gardeners!

Want to learn more about smart birds?