Species insider - Steller's Jay

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleri ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: CORVIDAE

A large, dark jay of evergreen forests in the mountainous West. Steller’s Jays are common in forest wildernesses but are also fixtures of campgrounds, parklands, and backyards, where they are quick to spy bird feeders as well as unattended picnic items. When patrolling the woods, Steller’s Jays stick to the high canopy, but you’ll hear their harsh, scolding calls if they’re nearby. Graceful and almost lazy in flight, they fly with long swoops on their broad, rounded wings.

Keys to identification Help

Crows and Jays

Typical Voice

• Size and Shape

  Steller’s Jays are large songbirds with large heads, chunky bodies, rounded wings, and a long, full tail. The bill is long, straight, and powerful, with a slight hook. Steller’s Jays have a prominent triangular crest that often stands nearly straight up from their head.

• Color Pattern

  At a distance, Steller’s Jays are very dark jays, lacking the white underparts of most other species. The head is charcoal black and the body is all blue (lightest, almost sparkling, on the wings). White markings above the eye are fairly inconspicuous.

• Behavior

  Like other jays, Steller’s Jays are bold, inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy. Steller’s Jays spend much of their time exploring the forest canopy, flying with patient wingbeats. They come to the forest floor to investigate visitors and look for food, moving with decisive hops of their long legs.

• Habitat

  Look for Steller’s Jays in evergreen forests of western North America, at elevations of 3,000-10,000 feet (lower along the Pacific coast). They’re familiar birds of campgrounds, picnic areas, parks, and backyards.

  Field MarksHelp

      

  • 
    Zoom In

    Steller's Jay

    Adult Pacific form

    • Blue body, wings, and tail
    • Prominent dark blackish crest
    • Blue wings with black barring
    • Blackish face without white
    • © John Riutta, Scappoose, Oregon, May 2008
  • 
    Zoom In

    Steller's Jay

    Adult Pacific form

    • Medium length, heavy bill
    • Blackish face and long blackish crest
    • Grayish black back
    • Blue body, wings, and tail
    • © Bob Scott, British Columbia, Canada, June 2009
  • 
    Zoom In

    Steller's Jay

    Adult Pacific form

    • Blue body, wings, and tail
    • Blackish face and long blackish crest
    • Moderately long square blue tail
    • Strong black bill
    • © quasimodo4502, San Francisco, California, November 2008
  • 
    Zoom In

    Steller's Jay

    Adult

  
  

  Range Map Help

   Range map by www.eBird.com 
• 
  
• 
  

• Similar Species

  

  Zoom In

  Adult

  • Pale gray underparts
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • Pale face with black patterning and collar
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • Blue crest and back
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • Wings and tail blue with white and black markings

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  © Gary Mueller, December 2008

  
  

  • 
    
  • 
    
  • 
    Zoom In

    Blue Jay

    Adult

    • Pale gray underparts
    • Pale face with black patterning and collar
    • Blue crest and back
    • Wings and tail blue with white and black markings
    • © Gary Mueller, December 2008
  • 
    Zoom In

    Western Scrub-Jay

    Adult

    • No crest
    • Blue crown, nape, wings, and tail
    • White, striped throat
    • Pale gray underparts
    • Grayish or brownish back
    • © lee.karney2, San Francisco, California, February 2007
  • 
    Zoom In

    Pinyon Jay

    Adult

    • Pale blue overall
    • No crest
    • Fairly short tail
    • © David F. Smith
    • 
      
    • 
      
    • 
  • 
    

    Zoom In

    Western Scrub-Jay

    Adult

    • No crest
    • Blue crown, nape, wings, and tail
    • White, striped throat
    • Pale gray underparts
    • Grayish or brownish back
    • © lee.karney2, San Francisco, California, February 2007

    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    

    
    
  
  

Pileated Woodpecker - Remember Woody the Woodpecker? Yes, that's it!

Having relocated back to my home state of Washington, to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, the one thing that is not lost is the birder in me - quite the opposite.

I moved into a roommate situation that worked from August to early March then I needed a place of my own - away from the hubbub of an off-Broadway Capitol Hill apartment.

I bid farewell to my murder of Corvid friends and they in turn finally came upon my stoop the very last day as I was moving,.

A lone crow came to eat from my hand.

No, she didn't want the usual fare of peanuts I lain upon the railing, but she was interested in a piece of salami I was eating and scooted closer - tilting her head, a curtsy, then she blinked.

I knew I was suckered and handed it to her. She politely took it and flew off to a nearby pole.

I found a new sense of wonder. I asked myself "I wonder what species I will see first when I get there."

I relocated to a quieter, private apartment in a virtual Bavarian flashback called Firdale Village - a small niche community in southwest Edmonds on the border of Shoreline - a delightful place where the evening breeze blows pleasantly in from the Puget Sound.

Now I find myself more hellbent on identifying species by sound only, trying, in a sense, to organically increase and hone my avian identification skills.

The first species that welcomed me to the little subculture I now find myself a part of was not a sighting, but rather a sound, the pronounced calls of the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus).

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes this species as "Nearly as large as a crow, the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America. Its loud ringing calls and huge, rectangular excavations in dead trees announce its presence in forests across the continent."

From the moment I drove my car into a parking stall at the bottom of my apartment steps, as I opened the car door to start unloading the mass of neatly stacked boxes and clothes, there it was, or should I say "He" was, making those beautiful sounds.

The echoing of a lone male Pileated Woodpecker, possibly calling for its mate or looking for a mate, echoed and billowed out three, four, five times into the canopy of the forest.

As he called out into the tall pines, I smiled. Recalling times I heard a similar sound of a woodpecker hidden in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The disappointment of never seeing it was etched in my mind.

A feeling welled up inside me. A sense of pride that I relocated to the perfect stoop from which I would listen to the progressive (and potential) mating rituals of this bird. And what a gift to be happy just to listen.

And, as I expected "He" did not disappoint from the not-so-far-away tree top I could hear his cries.

Three days I listenend intently to his dawn to dusk calls, when suddenly I heard another call.

Could it be?

As I stood on my balcony, pervaying the spread of forest behind my apartment, I sipped from my morning cup of Tully's Italian Roast coffee.

Again, listening carefully I realized a new group of return calls were coming from close proximity to my stoop. Was it a mate, or another male?

Two, three sips of coffee, then another echoing of calls from a lesser distance.

Call number four came from the southeast. At the top of a Douglas Fir he sat silent awaiting an answer.

The tallest of pines rise above my balcony - as far as the eye can see.

A bellowing of quick return calls to him.

Suddenly a fluttering of activity above me. He flew toward her in the pine tree above.

As organically as the mating calls started, so did the orchestration of early morning drumming.

Happy are they to simply do what birds and bees do.

The couple called and drummed for weeks then silently fledged a brood of little "Woody's" above my balcony.  What a treat!

March, April, now spring is gone - summer is here - with his echoing calls.

I did finally spot the species through my binoculars, and I checked that one off my Life List.

Rescue, Rehabilitation of Raptors in Pacific Northwest

Photo courtesy of King 5 News

Recently in the news, around the Pacific Northwest, we have heard stories of a Bald Eagle and Trumpeter Swan being shot. Other birds are found and reported injured by the local news.

Photo courtesy of King 5 News

I have seen several Canada Geese with arrows shot through them wandering amongst their flock.

Photo courtesy LA Times.com

In the spring of 2010 while traveling to the Point Reyes Bird Observatory I saw and reported to a Bay Area wildlife rehab about an injured Red-throated Loon that was swimming near the Treasure Island Yacht Club in San Francisco Bay.




Photo of Red-throated Loon courtesy of www.birdsasart.com



Copyright 2011 by Jill Rucker. Image of Northern Saw-whet Owl

But what motivates people to do these types of acts and abuses toward such beautiful creatures as birds?

Copyright 2011 by Jill Rucker. Image of Barn Owl.

I pray for them but then reports just keep coming.

Copyright 2011 by Jill Rucker. Image of Great Horned Owl.

I have a strong inclination to assist wildlife rehabs with fundraising and educational outreach but you must be licensed in most states to handle raptors, especially eagles.

Copyright 2011 by Jill Rucker. Image of Peregrine Falcon.

A few stories of rehabiltation of birds deserves praise and the releases are truly inspirational.

Copyright 2011 by Jill Rucker. Image of Golden Eagle & Sarvey rehab worker.

K04, or "Kay" as I named her - is very special indeed. She may never fly with her broken wing but if she does it will be because of a wildlife rehab. She came all the way to the Pacific Northwest from Catalina Island California where her life was virtually captured minute by minute by a bird cam. The bird camera is a manufactured type of motion detection and infrared camera placed close to a nest to detect mating rituals, egg hatching, fledgling, and migration patterns of raptors - birds of prey.

Here's the story as it appeared on King 5 News: KING5.com Posted on December 20, 2010 at 2:45 PM



SEQUIM, Wash. - A bald eagle shot on December 15 in Beaver, Wash. is still in critical condition in the intensive care ward of a local veterinary hospital.


"We almost lost the eagle today," said Matthew Randazzo, Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center Public Relations Director. "The eagle suffered a fractured ulna bone in its left wing from a bullet wound from what we believe to be a .22-caliber rifle in the morning of December 15. There's no way to know its long-term prognosis as of yet."


"The person who did this is still at large," says Randazzo. "I wish they could see the suffering this innocent animal is going through. We are determined to bring the sadistic person who did this to justice and encourage everyone to send any tips to us."


Tips leading to the capture of the person who shot the eagle can be sent to Matthew@NWRaptorCenter.com and to Fish & Wildlife at 1-877-933-9847. Those interested can follow the story at the Raptor & Wildlife Center's Facebook page.

The video link below is about two fledgling Bald Eagles, one, a female Bald Eagle, known as K04 is depicted here in the nest at Catalina Island California before she ever migrated North to the Pacific Northwest - where she was injured.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNEAskGd1E


This second video link is for a Trumpeter Swan that was shot that is being released back into the wild after recovering at a wildlife rescue & rehabilitation center. They all do such great work!

http://www.king5.com/news/Wounded-Swan-Takes-Flight-117370743.html



RESOURCES

Sarvey: http://www.sarveywildlife.org/

NW Wildlife:  http://www.northwestwildlife.org/

PNW Raptors:  http://www.pnwraptors.com/rescue_family_fun_duncan_bc_vancouver_island.html

PAWS:  http://www.paws.org/about-wildlife-center.html

Wildlife Law: http://www.animallaw.info/articles/arusfedwildhistory.htm