How To Upset Scrub Jays

So, the folks at UCD were doing an experiment? They left a dead Scrub Jay at a bird feeder. Scrub Jays don't like finding dead Scrub Jays laying around.

Do animals and birds have funerals for the dead? According to data collected by researchers from the University of California Davis, the western scrub jay in California has been observed making distinct calls to other jays in the area, possibly to warn them of potential danger after discovering a dead jay. The birds then congregate around the dead body of their fellow jay. Researchers also noted that the birds appeared to stop foraging for food in the immediate area for a period of over 24 hours.

The researchers conducted experiments to see how the birds would react in comparison to different objects, such as colored pieces of wood, stuffed jays and a stuffed Great Horned Owl, to simulate the bird's natural predator.

The jays did not react to the colored wood, but had similar reactions when a predator was spotted or if a dead jay was found, both signifying a potential danger in the area.

Regarding my fledglings, one is firmly lodged, in hiding, in the hedge outside my bedroom window, but I don't know where the other two are. I scanned the yard beneath their nest, but see nothing. Were there cats? Are they in a secret bunker somewhere? Or are they in the hedge too? The parents are saying nothing. It is a mystery.