Steller’s Jay –
The Steller’s Jay and Blue Jay are easy birds to recognize with their bright blue plumage (plumage is a fancy way to say feathers). The Steller’s Jay only lives in the Rocky Mountains and in mostly pine forests, while the Blue Jay lives just about everywhere.
The basic call of a jay seems loud and obnoxious to me. They are always screeching at other jays and appear always ready for a fight. They chirp and sing a lot while they chase each other around and play. Like a mockingbird, they can also imitate other birds, and even animals really well. I have heard them sounding like hawks to scare away other birds, and I have also heard them imitating a barking dog.
They were named after a man named Steller that first identified the species in Alaska. I wonder if there are any new birds out there I might name after myself – The Great Wilder Bird.
