Visual Search | Wizard | Browse
Bird name:

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleriOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Codes: Common Name: STJA Scientific Name: CYASTE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179685

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous, Forest edge, Mountains



Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester



Breeding Population:

Common in range, Stable



Egg Color:

Pale blue green or green blue with brown markings



Number of Eggs:

2 - 6



Incubation Days:

16 - 18



Egg Incubator:

Female



Nest Material:

Cemented with mud., Made of pine needles, twigs, dry leaves, roots, and grass.



Migration:

Nonmigratory



Splitbar

Recommended Products:

Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers

General

Steller's Jay: Large, crested jay with dark gray upperparts, head and breast, and blue rump and belly. Head has slight white eyebrow, forehead, and chin spots. Wings and tail are blue with black bars. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Steller's Jay: Largely resident from coastal southern Alaska east to the Rocky Mountains and southward into Central America. Preferred habitats include coniferous or deciduous forests.

Breeding and Nesting

Steller's Jay: Two to six light blue green or green blue eggs marked with brown are laid in a neat, twiggy nest lined with small roots and fibers, usually well hidden in a shady conifer. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Steller's Jay: Diet consists of nuts, pine seeds, acorns, small invertebrates, and bird eggs; also scavenges around human habitations; forages on the ground or in trees and shrubs.

Readily Eats

Cracked Corn, Suet, Sunflower Seed

Vocalization

Steller's Jay: Calls include "shaack, shaack, shack" and "shooka, shooka" notes. Often mimics calls of other birds, including loons and hawks.

Similar Species

Steller's Jay: Blue Jay has a purple gray crest and back, pale gray underparts, and black collar extends around its body from breast to nape.

.
Family Jays and Magpies (Corvidae)_blue
Species Cyanocitta stelleri
Length11.5 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

Steller's Jay

Steller's Jay: Large, crested jay, dark gray upperparts, head and breast, and blue rump and belly. Head has slight white eyebrow, forehead, and chin spots. Wings and tail are blue with black bars. Feeds on pine seeds, acorns, fruit, frogs, snakes, carrion, insects and eggs and young of other birds.

● Song: "shaack, shaack, shaack", "shooka, shooka"

● Foraging & Feeding: Steller's Jay: Diet consists of nuts, pine seeds, acorns, small invertebrates, and bird eggs; also scavenges around human habitations; forages on the ground or in trees and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: Steller's Jay: Two to six light blue green or green blue eggs marked with brown are laid in a neat, twiggy nest lined with small roots and fibers, usually well hidden in a shady conifer. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Steller's Jay: Blue Jay has a purple gray crest and back, pale gray underparts, and black collar extends around its body from breast to nape.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with buoyant steady wing beats.
Steller's Jay Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Steller's Jay: Largely resident from coastal southern Alaska east to the Rocky Mountains and southward into Central America. Preferred habitats include coniferous or deciduous forests.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon in range, Stable
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight4.5 Ounces
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BellyX
The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
ChinX
The area of the face just below the bill.
EyebrowX
Also called the supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over each eye.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Read more...
ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

Read more...
Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX