Critters of North Idaho: Steller’s jay
Steller’s jay
One day a couple of weeks ago, I happened to be looking outside at a bird feeder when a bird about midway between a robin and a crow in size came in for a landing. Its visit to the bird feeder was short, only a few moments, but just long enough for me to observe the black feathers covering its head, shoulders and chest, and eye-catching blue feathers on the back half of its body. I was looking at a Steller’s jay (Cyanocitta stelleri).
Most people are familiar with the Steller’s jay’s bluer cousin, the blue jay. Thankfully for all of the amateur birders out there, these species are easy to tell apart thanks to their coloration. The Steller’s jay is named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist who was the first to record this species in 1741. In addition to being black and blue, this bird has a tall crown of feathers atop its head that helps it stand out from other jays. Steller’s jays typically tip the scales at 3.7 ounces, measure 11.5 inches from beak to tail and have a wingspan of 19 inches or so. They are common in North Idaho, but they occur throughout the higher-elevation coniferous forests coating the western half of the Americas, from Alaska to Nicaragua.
Steller’s jays are curious and intelligent birds, which makes sense when you remember that they are members of the corvidae family, of which the highly intelligent raven are also a part of. Another thing they share in common with ravens is their wide variety of vocalizations. In addition to a repertoire of harsh-sounding screams, squacks, rattles, they also are known for their ability to mimic the calls of other animals. Take a walk through the woods and think you hear a squirrel or a red-tailed hawk? Might be a Steller’s jay! Does the sound of a chicken, or dog while you’re enjoying a picnic in a pine forest catch you by surprise since you don’t see either one in sight? Keep your eyes peeled for a Steller’s jay!
Much of their time is spent exploring the tree canopy in search of their next meal. They are usually on the lookout for berries, insects and seeds, but they also pick through garbage and unguarded picnic items and will bully other birds away from bird feeders to get at the goodies inside. Sometimes they are predatory, gobbling down small rodents, reptiles, and eggs and chicks of other birds. Steller’s jays go absolutely crazy for nuts, especially larger varieties like acorns and pinyon pine seeds. So much so that they have been known to carry multiple nuts in their beak at a time which they then stash away for harder times during winter. You might think of these critters as the squirrels of the bird world.
Unlike a depressingly large number of bird species, Steller’s jays are not on the endangered species list and are doing very well for themselves in their natural habitat. Your chances of finding these birds in the wild are quite high should you choose to try and find them for yourself!
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Christian Ryan can be reached at animaladventures1314@gmail.com
