Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay

Birding is observational. We watch, we listen, but we don’t interact. There is little opportunity to get to know birds not as types, but as individuals. And, honestly, there is little incentive to do so, as the tyranny of the list says that one Blue Jay is the same as any other Blue Jay. Julie Zickefoose’s delightful Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay exposes this for the lie it is.

In 2017, Zickefoose, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, took in a very young, orphaned Blue Jay that came to be known as Jemima. Saving Jemima tells the story of this bird from tiny chick abandoned on the ground to release to re-capture to, finally, re-release. As with any good story, there are setbacks and breakthroughs, tragedy and triumph. But this review won’t provide the play-by-play. Not that the details aren’t interesting – they are – but they are best left for the reader to discover. They are also not the heart of the book.

There is so much more here than “just” how the author was able to raise and release this bird. The bird family Corvidae, of which Blue Jays are a member, are known for their intelligence and sociability. But it was still amazing to see that demonstrated in how Jemima bonded with her adoptive family and, especially, how she behaved after release. Zickefoose was able to recognize Jemima, both by appearance due to a unique brow mark and by behavior, so she was able to keep tabs on her and gain some unique insights. “Watching these birds impressed upon me that there are layers of complexity in their lives and their behavior that never so much as prick human consciousness,” she tells us.

Just one example occurred during Jemima’s first winter. Her flight was compromised due to broken wing feathers caused by the malnutrition she suffered before she was brought in. Zickefoose reports that the jay was able to fly distances up to 150 feet, but in order to do so would have to clamber up a tree and launch from the top to a distant spot. But her condition affected her behavior even further, beyond that which many would give a bird credit for. One day, Jemima was in a spruce tree along with a few other jays when a hawk alarm call rang out. Three jays bolted from the tree to another sheltering tangle, while another jay, Jemima, gave an initial leap, but then stopped to remain in the spruce. Zickefoose writes:

Her strongest instinct would have been to join her companions in a headlong flight toward safety: that was revealed in the little leap she took. And yet she caught herself in time, knowing that she’d be bringing up the rear and thus far more likely to be picked off.

This is not a simple automaton. After reading about the author’s experiences with Jemima, you can’t argue when she continues, “A blue jay is a sentient being.”

Still, the heart of the book lies not in the plight of Jemima, but her affect on the author. It may be a cliché to say that, while the book is titled Saving Jemima, it was really Jemima that did the saving. But there is some truth to that. Zickefoose confides that the jay came into her life when she was burdened with a “struggling soul”. Again, I don’t want to go into the details because I couldn’t do it justice. Suffice it to say, raising this orphan helped her to come to grips with her situation and, ultimately, gave her hope.

I doubt that there is anyone better able to tell a story such as this than Julie Zickefoose. She knows what she’s talking about. She knows her birds, as she’s had decades of experience in rehabbing them and is a careful observer. She was able to notice the little things that added so much to this tale. She is also an exceptional writer. Her words are so open, honest, and earnest that it makes an already great story all that more powerful. Together, this allows the reader to connect to the story both intellectually and emotionally.

If I had to level any criticism at Saving Jemima, it’s that it isn’t a long book, and a surprising amount of it doesn’t deal directly with the titular bird. Zickefoose also describes her interactions with some of the other jays that have come into her life. Additionally, she provides a primer on Blue Jay natural history (diet, migration, etc) and how to attract them to your yard (basically, what to feed them). A reader could feel cheated by that. But not a reader of this book. You’ll just be glad for as much as you can get.

Lastly, Saving Jemima is filled with photos and the author’s paintings documenting the entire process. It wouldn’t be a Julie Zickefoose book without her wonderful, evocative watercolors.

Recommendation

Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay is a great story, it’s informative, dramatic, and emotionally powerful. Upon reading it, I don’t see how you could help but to, as the author hopes, see jays “in a deeper, more appreciative and more inquisitive way than you might have before.”