The Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) which has a wide black streak that looks like a moustache, occurs over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian Subcontinent, identified by its bright blue wing patch. Its body is mostly pinkish brown, its wings are black and grey with a white patch and its wing coverts (the outer layer of feathers, which reduce air resistance) have pale blue and black bars. It also has a crest, with black and white spots, on its forehead which it raises during mating displays, which is why it is sometimes confused with the hoopoe. The Eurasian Jay has an excellent memory – during autumn and winter, it feeds on seeds and berries, chestnuts and acorns. One jay often caches acorns in winter (up to 3000 a month), by burying each acorn in the leaf litter or beneath low vegetation. It has learnt to know the green shoots of oak produced by the buried acorns. The next summer, it easily finds them and feeds the germinated acorn. The Jays tend to visit gardens in pairs.
