What's not to love about Ohio's stunning fall palette? The yellow, red and russet tones against the clear blue skies are something that I anticipate in the hot days of summer.

But it's not just the blue of the sky that makes it special, it's the sudden change in the behavior of blue jays.

Following a quiet summer of nesting and raising young, the newly independent parents, and their maturing offspring, turn their attention to taking advantage of the fall crop of seeds. In our neighborhood, the flash of blue and the characteristic "jay" call is everywhere.

They make a variety of sounds, one very similar to the call of the red-shouldered hawk, perhaps to intimidate competition away from food sources.

The blue jay is one of the larger perching birds. It belongs to the Corvid family, the same as ravens and crows, and like its relatives, it is curious and intelligent. It can be aggressive, chasing squirrels, cats and the occasional human who might threaten a nest.

Blue jays are omnivores and eat insects, mice and frogs, and the occasional nestling and egg. It is not unusual to see songbirds mob a jay when they think their nest is under attack.

In turn, the blue jay's young often are victims of other predators.

In addition to their prey, seeds and fruit make up a large part of their diet, and they are known to store or cache food throughout their home range. They can be quite greedy when feeding.

I stopped using mixed seed in my feeder after watching them shovel out what they didn't want in search of sunflower seeds. Feeding black oil sunflower solved the problem and turned them into polite feeders taking one seed at a time.

The russet of oaks in the fall is more than just a pretty color to blue jays. Acorns are a major food source, and the relationship between jays and oaks is interesting.

This is a mast year which means trees have put a lot of energy into seed production so there is an abundance.

I had always thought that squirrels were responsible for stashing the acorns that became new trees.

However, as I listened to University of Delaware entomologist Dr. Doug Tallamy speak about the benefits of native trees to wildlife, I learned that blue jays are by far the main distributor of acorns that become new oaks.

A single bird can plant as many as 3,300 acorns in a mast year due to them remembering only one out of four that they bury.

Research has shown that acorns buried by blue jays are planted at a perfect depth and have a higher germination rate than those stashed by other wildlife.

With that information in mind, my admiration for the personable blue jay has grown immensely.

To learn more about the relationship between blue jays and our oak forests, visit go.osu.edu/blue jays

Steffen is an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County.