pics of a Bluejay sunning

First time I saw this I thought it was dead, then it flew away after a few minutes.

Today (the second time) I just happened to be working from home and one caught my eye. We've been taking pics of the yellow finches at our feeder so I had the camera on the dining room table. Perfect timing.

 

It's called anting. It's the way they pick up ants to aid in keeping their feathers clean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_(bird_activity)

I recently saw one exhibit this behavior for the first time. I thought it was an injured juvenile as the fledglings are still spending a lot of time on the ground.

 

KTdid, how can you tell the difference between sunning and anting?

http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/features/a-perfect-summer-for-sunning-other-beautiful-things/

http://www.earthlife.net/birds/preening.html

I was concluding (and I'm not at all an expert on this) that it was sunning since the two times it has happened it has been in the same spot where the afternoon sun hits the side yard and there are no ant hills there.

 

I suppose it could be both reasons...I based it on the debris he is laying on.