Blue jays have a lot of respect for woodpeckers. After crows, the woodpeckers take over the feeders. But they usually take some seed and fly p into a tree to eat, then return for more. When it’s the bluejay’s turn, they stay at the feeder until they are full. But they will always scatter the seed all over the ground which some other birds prefer. One day, looking outside the window on a cold winter morning I saw a hawk on the ground under the feeder with something in it’s talons. A closer look revealed a struggling flicker getting i’s feathers plucked. I couldn’t watch, but I didn’t interfere either. Like you said it is nature’s way. They all have to eat. My favorite bird is probably the hummingbirds. Amazing creatures. In the fall, they Fly from Cuba to Central America across the gulf nonstop on necktar. Probably one of nature’s most efficient creatures.
Yes! And nobody messes with hummingbirds, either...when they get aggressive, other birds clear out!
My dad told me when he was the XO of a destroyer back in the early Sixties going through the Suez Canal, they had a hawk perched on the top of the mast, plucking some other bird, and all the crew was looking up at it as the downy feathers came floating down!