The Jaybird Party Democratic party preselected candidates for the Democratic primary and prohibited African Americans from participating in any activities of the party that was to be organized. The Jaybird fought against the Woodpeckers which included a number of whites and virtually the entire African-American population. The woodpeckers had controlled the county government by winning the Reconstruction Era. They Jaybird which included a majority of the white population in the county, wanted to oust blacks and their white allies from the country administration.