Looked like a really smart bird
Well they’re members of the crow family, so therefore yeah – pretty intelligent. They are shy compared to other Corvids, I had one as a pet for 7 years and he always remained very nervous despite having been hand reared. Hand reared magpies in contrast are silly tame and highly affectionate.
Their calls aren’t just very noisy, they’re also highly unpleasant – very loud screams.
Britain’s imperial past actually has a lot to thank jays for. Jays are particularly keen on acorns, which when in plentiful supply they will collect and hide by burying them in the ground. They often forget the location of their caches or simply have more than they need, as a consequence the buried acorns sprout and grow into oak trees. These oak trees were once vital to British Navy as they provided the timber to build its ships. It was with these ships that Britain was able to patrol the seas and secure territorial claims in far off distant lands. Jays therefore made a vital contribution to the creation of the British Empire – that’s a fact that is.