Despite the fact that blue jays appear blue, the pigment in their feathers, melanin, is actually brown, but because of a phenomenon called light scattering, similar to the effects of a prism, we perceive it as blue. Blue jay wings contain tiny pockets made of air and keratin, when light hits these pockets all the colors of the wavelength, except blue, are absorbed. the blue wavelength is refracted, allowing us the see the feathers as appearing blue in color. This holds true for any bird with blue plumage. Image was sharpened, brightness adjusted, background darkened to remove distractions.