The few blue wildlife in my yard these days are dramatically obvious against evergreen conifers and not-yet-deciduous oaks. Others might appear in spring if I plant seed now. Some of their names tell us about the species, give us clues about their appearances. But for others, common names and sometimes even scientific names don’t make sense. The Stellar’s jay above is not my photo but his cousins visit my California yard to enjoy the sunflower seeds I offer. When Stellar’s jay arrives, the other birds bail out, even California scrub jay.
Their names suggest a relationship (both are jays), and California tells us where one bird lives. Stellar’s tells us nothing useful about the bird as the name is in honor of Georg Wilhelm Steller (10 March 1709 – 14 November 1746). But it does tell us that Stellar was the first white man to see them. Part of Bering’s exploration of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Alaska in the 1740’s, Stellar might be the first non-native person to walk on Alaskan soil.
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One of my favorite spring flowers is baby blue eyes (Nemophilia menziesii). Their name makes sense due to the soft blue petal color that looks dramatic as plants grow in masses and resembles the blue eyes of many newborn humans. An annual plant, seeds are available separately and in California wildflower mixes (often with sky lupines, goldfields, gilia, and poppies). Now is the time to scatter their seeds. They will germinate in winter rains and send down roots in preparation to flourish fast in early spring. Where I live they bloom in March/April.
I want a carpet of baby blue eyes, Clarkia, Gilia, and California poppies in my back yard.
Plant common names are a mess and unstandardized. Plant names vary by speaker and the same plant might have several common names. Or one common name is used for different plants (sometimes from entirely different Families). Or one genus covers flowers that seem dramatically different.
Check out these two native Gilia species (genus and common name). One is globe gilia — guess which. The other is birds-eye gilia — does that flower look like a bird’s eye? Perhaps it is the darker ring around the corolla’s center?
Bird names are also confusing: scrub jay and Stellar’s jay are blue but not blue jays. They ARE jays although some jays are also called magpies. Birds have standardized common names but not all jays are the same genus, for example Stellar’s (Cyanocitta stelleri) versus California scrub (Aphelocoma californica).
The western scrub-jay became the California scrub-jay this year when studies determined it is a separate species and the western scrub-jay was divided in two. The other species is now called Woodhouse’s scrub-jay who lives in dry lowlands east of California. The distinguishing visual traits are California’s brighter blue overall, pale grey lower parts and the blue breast band. Samuel Washington Woodhouse (June 27, 1821 – October 23, 1904) was another white male naturalist who explored the southwestern U.S. and also has a toad named after him.
Bird common names are officially standardized to allow uniformity among reporting, although regional name variations are used colloquially.
...the American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) Checklist of North American Birds ... first came out in 1886 and lists the official common names of all North American birds. Better yet, in 2006 the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) established a World Bird List that lists accepted common English names for all 10,612 species of living birds and 153 species of extinct ones. This standardization of common English names makes the reporting of sightings and the tracking of bird species populations much more reliable.
Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) is a rhizomatous perennial in the Iris Family. It flowers in March to May, drops seeds in early summer, and then is dormant until winter rains spur growth. It has yellow eyes, in my opinion, not blue and technically it isn’t a grass, either, but it is a monocot.
Chickory (Chinchoria intybus) is also called batchelor’s buttons and cornflower, which are the common names of a different flower in a different genus. Native to Europe, chickory naturalizes throughout the U.S. and is often found in disturbed habitats. It grows without summer rains or irrigation near me and blooms summer into late autumn. Cultivated types of chickory include raddichio and Belgian endive.
Batchelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus), also called cornflowers because (doh) they grew in cornfields, are native to Europe. In the late 1900’s, these plants were considered Endangered in the U.K. due to agriculture but now are rated Least Concern. Inexpensive packets of “wildflower” seeds usually contain a high percentage of batchelor’s buttons seeds as plants self-sow, produce lots of seeds, and are easy to harvest.
A blue butterfly still seeking nectar near me is the pipevine swallowtail shown here on spring-flowering blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitata). This butterfly overwinters in chrysalises and in spring adults emerge to lay eggs on the pipevine host plant. This insect’s name suits her lifestyle as she can only lay eggs on pipevine plants. Larvae eat pipevine leaves to confer toxicity on themselves as a deterrent to predation. I suspect “blue dicks” flower common name is from their color (although often more purplish) and a shortened version of the genus name.
Sky lupines (Lupinus nanus) are annuals blooming in early spring (March-May). Seeds are available commercially and scattered now. Like baby blue eyes, they will self-sow year after year. CalTrans plants sky lupines along roadsides, resulting in gorgeous sweeps of blue each spring. Meadows of sky lupines do look as if the sky is reflected on the land.
The western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) carries the sky on his back and seems well-named, until you consider the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides). Both live in the mountains of the western U.S., but the western is further west and the mountain prefers higher elevations.
Western bluebird lives near me and is uncommon. Numbers are increasing thanks to projects creating nest boxes to replace the loss of natural nest habitat (cavities in dead trees). They pass through my yard now and then clearly en route somewhere but I never know where they came from or where they are going. Maybe they are looking for insects and ripe berries. I think they are altitudinal migrants from higher in the Sierras. Maybe I’ll set up a nest box and see who comes.
The big guy below is a male blue-eyed darner, a common dragonfly in the western U.S. and one of the first to appear in spring (they may migrate to California to overwinter). They are seen away from water as well as in aquatic areas, unlike most dragonflies who stay near water. Darners are in the mosaic darner dragonfly family, named for the blue, copper and black mosaic of colors on their abdomens. Darner, I think, references the insect’s shape that is like a large darning needle. Blue-eyed — well look at the photos!
The tiny blue guy on the left is a Pacific fork-tail (males have four blue spots on their upper thorax). This inch-long damselfly is active most of the year near ponds and streams. Fork-tail is the common name of this genus as the males have a forked portion at the tip of their abdomens but it’s difficult to see since the insect is so tiny.
All this focus on naming and labelling can detract from the pure pleasure of observation. We don’t need precise nomenclature to appreciate the amazing variety of nature in our backyards. Plants and animals don’t care what you call them, they just want you to not hurt them and to protect the habitat features they need to survive.
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Your turn. Anyone blue near you?