# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Hunting & Trapping >  Blue Jay

## Manio

Does anybody know if you can eat Blue Jays? I see a bunch of em around in the woods, and I'd love to know if you can eat em!

Thanks a bunch, even if you have to cook em a certain way, tell me!

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## laughing beetle

Dunno...prob'ly tastes like chicken...

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## Sourdough

No....more like a spotted owl with just a hint of Bald Eagle.

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## RBB

> Does anybody know if you can eat Blue Jays? I see a bunch of em around in the woods, and I'd love to know if you can eat em!
> 
> Thanks a bunch, even if you have to cook em a certain way, tell me!


As with any song bird - the return is small.  They are mostly feathers.  You remember the line from the song, "four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie"?
Even with that many - you've got a pretty small pie.

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## FVR

Yes, I believe that all birds are edible.  Given the time of year, ya may have to deal with louse and mites.  Cook it.

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## crashdive123

Hey Technosurfer - how about going over to the introduction section and tell us about yourself.  You wouldn't want people to think that you were just throwing out a bunch of posts to get your website out there now would you?

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## tsitenha

Bluejays are a protected species like the porcupine, in your neck of the woods Manio, only in a true survival situation.

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## klkak

He just wants to kill something and not feel bad about it.  That's why he's asking if its edible.

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## primeelite

You can eat it if well cooked. It might get you a few bites at most. I don't know if it is worth it after preparing it and then having to make sure it is real well cooked to kill the many diseases they can carry. Better off in a survival situation scrounging for larger bugs and small game then trying to hit a blue jay out of the sky.

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## tsitenha

Edible yes, legal no  :Wink:

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## primeelite

In a life or death situation it is legal I think? I guess in a life or death situation you wouldn't care paying a fine either for killing the bird.

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## skunkkiller

In Life And Death It Is Easier To Eat Bark Or Grassor So No

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## trax

Well Manio, if there's that many blue jays, you're probably going to lose the fight, so you might wanna put a loooootttt of thought into that. 

(Where in the world are you that blue jays outnumber say...grouse? ptarmigan? pheasant? )

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## klkak

> In Life And Death It Is Easier To Eat Bark Or *Grassor So No*


^^^What the heck did he say?^^^ :Confused:

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## primeelite

Haha Trax I was wondering the same thing. I see a blue jay every now and then but there are plenty of other animals that would be easier to get than blue jays.

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## Badawg

Don't eat the blue jays... Eat pigeons or sparrows...

I used to work for an arabian horse breeder. He hated pigeons because they would eat his "expensive food" for the horses. His ranch guys (2 illegals that lived in trailers on the property and were treated VERY well) would put Bird tanglefoot on the pen railings around the feed troughs.

Pigeons would land and get stuck. the hands would ring their necks and clip them off the pens with a pair of fence pliers and BBQ them. Very tasty corn and oat fed pigeons...

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## skunkkiller

life or death its easier to eat bark or grass or so on like bugs. read between the lines.

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## Jericho117

I think Blue Jays are awsome creatures, if you really want to hunt them that's fine. My guess is they are edible, almost every bird is ( scavenging birds should be cooked longer). Good looking decoration feathers though.

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## crashdive123

Sarge - Move to Survival Food

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