Blue Jays in the Vegetable Garden: Friend or Foe?

I have a handful of blue jays that are VERY interested in hanging around my back yard this season. The seedlings in my vegetable garden beds are cautiously poking their heads up through the ground, hoping to have dodged the last frost and I’m worrying over them daily, wondering which sprouts are vegetables and which ones are weeds and if I should bother either of them yet.

I first noticed the jays flying up out of my strawberry patch within the first week I planted it. They probably pulled about 8 plants up out of the ground before I covered the patch with chicken wire and put an end to it. Those tenacious birds haven’t left though. Most times I glance out the window, one or more of them are hopping through the gardens… I’m not sure if I should welcome them or not.

I usually open the back door and let my Aussie chase them away. I see them fly off, only to return a short while later and hang out in my trees or on my fence, waiting for the opportunity to take another garden tour.