Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Steller's Jay Photo by Jeff Max - Macaulay Library

Steller's Jay Photo by Rob Palmer Photography

Designated as the provincial bird

of British Columbia in 1987.

The Steller's Jay is recognized as the only 

crested jay in the west of Canada and the U.S.

The Steller's Jay was named after the Arctic explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller who discovered it on the Alaska Coast in 1741.

It has a black head and crest and a sooty black back and breast.  There is also some white or blue striping on the head in some populations.

This bird is omnivorous, eating a wide variety of creatures, including frogs, snakes, the eggs and young of other birds, many kinds of insects, even carrion.

The Steller's Jay population is common in pine-oak forests and coniferous woodland in the West but is accidental in the East.

In winter, family groups often frequent bird feeders.

They frequently mimic the calls of other birds, including hawks and loons.

They are not migratory.

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BarrytheBirder