We have a pair of Blue Jays trying to build a nest in our silver maple, which is directly over our garage. They have been stealing those foot-long or so stiff white electrical ties from someone's home improvement project from somewhere in the neighborhood (Berea). This has been going for the last ten days, and they must have stolen over 100 of them by now, as we find up to two dozen on the garage roof and on the ground daily. They try to weave them into a nest, but 99% of the time they fall to the roof or ground. I can see only one or two that are on the branch, and even those don't look all that secure. But they keep stealing, and keep trying. They are usually dropped or fall almost as soon as they pick them up, which begs the question, why do they keep trying? Has anyone else seen Blue Jays use unusual nesting material? ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]