Are Jays that strong?

I have a small wood and every autumn a flock of Jays take up residence over the winter and leave for “pastures new” come spring. God they are noisy, I always hear them before I see them.
Last week I was busy in the garden and 2 Jays appeared to be having a mid air fight. They landed in my huge Lime tree. About 2 seconds later I heard a thud and thought maybe one Jay had killed the other. I ventured over to where I heard the thud and found a dead Weasel. It had been freshly killed ( you could tell by the bloody wound). Would a Jay really be strong enough to fly with a Weasel in its beak? I presume the mid air fight was over the dead Weasel. I removed said Weasel to the dustbin as I did not want Pancake ( my cat) deciding to have an afternoon snack of said Weasel which no doubt would have been up chucked shortly afterwards on my sittingroom carpet!

 

Interesting!
There are a few noisy Jays around here. They do have a very distinctive call.

I asked Google about the incident..

AI Overview
No, a jay would not be strong enough to fly with a weasel in its beak; the weight of a weasel would far exceed what a jay could carry, making flight impossible. A weasel's weight would prevent the jay from generating the necessary lift to stay airborne, and the jay's beak is adapted for eating, not for carrying heavy, live prey in the way a hawk or owl might.
Here's why a jay couldn't carry a weasel:

• Weight:
  The average weight of a jay is significantly less than a weasel's. The added weight of a weasel would make it impossible for the jay to lift off the ground or sustain flight, similar to how a tiny bird cannot fly while carrying a large object.
• Braking Force:
  A bird's beak is designed to grasp and manipulate food items, not to support the considerable weight of a live animal like a weasel. The jaw structure and muscles are not equipped for such heavy loads.
• Purpose of a Beak:
  The beaks of birds like jays are lightweight, strong structures designed to eat, forage, build nests, and preen. They are not built to be lifting devices strong enough to overpower a similarly sized predator.

 

Thanks @Pete8. I really didn’t think a Jay would be capable of flying with a Weasel in its beak. Hmm, therefore, I wonder if Weasels climb trees? It had to get up the tree somehow. Perhaps one of the Jays stabbed it when it landed in the tree. Or a Sparrow Hawk or Kestral dropped it by accident in the tree and the Jays dislodged it. Who knows but it was very odd.

 

A few years ago someone took a picture of a wessel on the back of a green woodpecker (not sure if true) but i think it made news headlines and also if you google wessel on the back of a woodpecker there are a few picture, some picture have been messed with by adding things like a lion etc

 

AI Overview

The phrase "wessel on the back of a woodpecker" refers to a viral photograph taken by amateur photographer Martin Le-May in 2015, showing a weasel in the process of attacking a green woodpecker in a London park. The image captured a moment of nature's unexpected struggle for life, with the woodpecker successfully escaping its predator after the photographer's presence distracted the weasel.
The Event

• Who: Amateur photographer Martin Le-May.
• What: A weasel attacking a green woodpecker, with the weasel clinging to the bird's back.
• Where: Hornchurch Country Park in East London, UK.
• When: March 2015.
• How: Le-May heard a distressed squawking sound and observed the woodpecker, initially thinking it was just flying oddly. Upon switching from binoculars to his camera, he realized a small mammal was on the bird's back.

The Outcome

• The woodpecker eventually landed, and its struggle, along with the distraction provided by Le-May and his wife, allowed the weasel to be distracted.
• The woodpecker managed to escape into the grass and was freed from the predator.
• Le-May's photograph became a viral sensation, highlighting an unusual and dramatic moment of nature.

 

Wow! shot of a lifetime for that photographer.