Blue Jay behaviour

Throughout the winter, we've notice Blue Jay tracks in the snow around the bottom edge of the garage doors.

At first, we thought they were pecking at the concrete looking for some gravel to aid in digestion or perhaps looking for more minerals in their diet.

David thought they were trying to get heat from inside the garage through the crack at the bottom of the doors much like the homeless do by sleeping on subway grates. Ha!

Well, it turns out Blue Jays are pecking at the paint on the garage doors.  Apparently, paint has calcium, limestone and other minerals and Blue Jays need those minerals all year round.
Song birds, for example, only need calcium in quantities when they are breeding in the spring to aid in egg formation.

Go fig.

We noticed the paint was peeling away from the doors but assumed it was the extreme cold coupled with old paint.

Now we really have to paint the doors in the spring.

Heres the information about paint eating Blue Jays I found from here.

Paint contains limestone, or calcium carbonate, which is used as an extender pigment. Like eggshells, it is a source of calcium. But why is it attractive to the jays only in the northeast and only during the winter months? One theory is that snow cover prevents the birds from consuming grit and soil, which can contain calcium and other minerals. And in the northeast we seem to have calcium-poor soils anyway. Add to that the impact of acid rain, which leaches calcium from soils, and you have the perfect mix of circumstances that would oblige the jays to look for alternatives.