My favorite bird is the gray jay (I wrote my version of an ode to them here). But none of “my” gray jays moved with me a few years ago when I moved to a lower elevation in Colorado’s mountains. At both homes, though, were Steller’s jays, and as the years have passed I have come to appreciate and enjoy the Lady and “Gentlemen Jays” with their iridescent blue suits in their gray-black evening cape and top hats.
The Stellar is found year-round in much of western Colorado, which is fairly mountainous. At my feeders their numbers slowly increased from one or two until they now number one to two dozen, daily and throughout the day. They are flighty (no pun intended) and skittish and raucous and sometimes a bit pompous looking, stuffing out their chest and shaking their crest.
Stan Tekiela, in his Birds of Colorado Field Guide, notes that they are common residents between 6,000 and 8,000 feet elevation (though they lived with me above 10,000 feet as well), usually in conifer forest. He notes that blue jays usually live lower and gray jays higher, which is true – though I did have a blue jay move through one week this year, probably migrating. Tekiela writes that Steller’s are non-migrators.
The Colorado Steller is described as having a “large, pointed black crest on its head that can be lifted at will” and “distinctive white streaks on forehead and just above eyes.” Apparently the white eyebrows and forehead streaks are unique to Colorado jays. And I see more “lifted” crests than floppy ones! (In fact, I’ve wondered if they flop when wet, or heavy with snow, both of which I’ve observed, as on my deck and in my yard those crests are usually straight and sturdy-looking.
Tekeila says they eat insects, berries, and seeds and “will visit seed feeders,” all of which is accurate. Do birds have a sense of smell? Or great hearing? Or just an acute perception of what is happening around them? I tried a small experiment this summer, after I realized there were birds in my front yard where there are no feeders. Not as many nor as much variety but still present. So I began to toss out some of the universal favorite feeder food, the black oil sunflower seed, after filling the back deck feeders each morning. Voila! Within one or two minutes, the front yard embraced a half dozen Steller’s jays! How did they know so quickly there were seeds on the ground on the other side of the house? I have no idea but they did!
I also tried a few bits of kibble, which turns out to be favored by foxes as well as Steller’s. If a fox was nearby they would rush in to gobble it up. The Steller’s were equally quick but would perch on nearby branches to await their opportunity to swoop in for a bite while fox backs were turned. As quick as they are opportunistic, they are also clearly brave!
Along with their “top hat and cape,” and their white streaks on the black, they have window-pane markings along their two-tone blue wings, bright blue tails and whitish underparts. Their personalities are not as complex as their coloring. Yet they do show both bravery and nervousness, aggressiveness and shyness.
Tekeila says they mate for life and seldom breed more than ten miles from their birthplace, while Mary Taylor Gray’s Guide states they are very secretive about their nests.
Colorado has several jays: gray, Steller’s, pinyon, western scrub, blue jay. They are Corvids (not covids), like crows and ravens. The Steller’s prefer ponderosa pine (which explains their presence at my place).
It is the largest bird at my feeders (though crows hang out nearby, watching, waiting, sometimes strutting their stuff, willing to grab a bit of kibble but not willing to land on a feeder).
Gray’s Guide to Colorado Birds calls the Steller’s jay “the Welcome Wagon bird of the Colorado Rockies.”
In the charming (again, no pun meant) book, “A Charm of Goldfinches,” on collective names for wildlife groups, the family of jays, because they always wear “their glad rags,” is called “a party.” They will show up at your picnic in a mountain park or favorite camping spot, as well as foothills feeders. Yet they have a skittishness that belies their boldness (and is unlike their cousin grays).
Corvids on the whole are intelligent creatures with complex personalities and lives. They are always welcome at my home. They provide much joy here.
Birding news from your place this week?