Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleri

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family CORVIDAE

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A striking crested bird of bright blue and black, the Steller's Jay is a familiar sight around campgrounds in the mountains of the West.

Cool Facts

• The Steller's Jay and the Blue Jay are the only New World jays that use mud in the construction of their nests.

• The Steller's Jay shows a great deal of variation in appearance throughout its range, with some populations featuring black crests and backs, and others blue. One black-crested form in southern Mexico is surrounded by eight other blue-crested forms.

• The Steller's Jay periodically irrupts away from its normal range. Most of these far-ranging individuals appear to be young birds. For an example of such an irruption as detected by FeederWatch data, click here.

• Steller's and Blue jays are the only North American jays with crests. The Blue Jay is expanding its range westward. Where they meet, the two species occasionally interbreed and produce hybrids.

Description

• Size: 30-34 cm (12-13 in)
• Weight: 100-140 g (3.53-4.94 ounces)

• Large songbird.
• Crest on head dark blue or black.
• Head, chest, and back brownish-black.
• Wings, tail, and body deep blue.

• Barring on wings and tail black.
• Forehead streaks white and sky-blue.
• White crescents around eyes on Rocky Mountain form.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult except head and body are sooty gray.

Similar Species

• Blue Jay is crested, but it has a grayish white chest with a black band across it, a white face, and substantial white in the wings and tail. No other jay has a crest.

Sound

Large variety of loud and harsh calls. Common call a harsh "shaar," and a rapid rattling "shek, shek, shek, shek."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from southern Alaska southward through mountains to Nicaragua, eastward to Colorado and western Texas.

Winter Range

Resident in breeding range, but may move to lower elevations in winter. Occasional irruptions of mostly young birds to areas outside normal range.

Habitat

Coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, open woodlands, orchards and gardens.

Food

Arthropods, acorns, nuts, fruits, seeds, and small vertebrates.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from trees, shrubs, and ground. Pecks at food while holding with feet.

Reproduction

Nest Type

An open cup of twigs, dry leaves, moss, and mud. Lined with rootlets, pine needles, and hair. Placed on top of branches, close to trunk.

Egg Description

Bluish-green marked with dark spots.

Clutch Size

Usually 1-6 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

No obvious trends in population changes.

Other Names

Geai de Steller (French)
Chara Crestada (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Greene, E., W. Davison, and V. R. Muehter. 1998. Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). In The Birds of North America, No. 343 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.