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Bird name:

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleriOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Codes: Common Name: STJA Scientific Name: CYASTE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179685

Head

Topo Map: Perching-like Head

Bill Shape: All-purpose
Eye Color: Dark brown.
Head Pattern: Plain, Crested or plumed, Streaked, Eyering (complete or broken)
Crown Color: Black
Forehead Color: Black, some have blue or white stripes.
Nape Color: Gray-black
Throat Color: Gray-black
Cere color: No Data

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Body

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Length Range: 29 cm (11.5 in)
Weight: 128 g (4.5 oz)
Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
Color: Blue, Purple or Violet, White, Black
Underparts: Blue-gray
Upperparts: Blue
Back Pattern: Solid
Belly Pattern: Solid
Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

Topo Map: Perching-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Direct flight with buoyant steady wing beats.
Wingspan Range: 43 cm (17 in)
Wing Shape: Broad-Wings, Rounded-Wings
Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
Tail Pattern: Solid
Upper Tail: Blue with fine black bars.
Under Tail: Gray
Leg Color: Black

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

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.

● 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

Perching-like Head

Perching-like Body

Perching-like Flight

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

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.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Steller's Jay

Head

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Body

Flight

Steller's Jay

Flight Pattern