Soon after moving to the Pacific Northwest, I began noticing some very striking electric-blue birds with crests. They turned out to be Steller’s jays (Cyanocitta stelleri, if you want to get official). Though they share a name, a family, and a silhouette with the better-known blue jay, there’s no mistaking one for the other. I had trouble thinking of them as “jays” at all.
The original Steller was an 18th-century German scientist who sailed to Alaska with the Russian explorer Vitus Bering. He was the first European to document several animals, which later got names like Steller’s Sea Cow, Steller’s Sea Lion, Steller’s Eider, and of course Steller’s Jay. He’s the only person on record to have ever seen a creature called Steller’s Sea Ape.
Steller’s jays are large – about 11 inches – and hard to miss, with their bright blue color. Their heads and legs are black. Unusually for birds, the males and females are pretty much the same colors. Maybe this makes it easier for them to find each other in the evergreen forests where they like to live. It certainly makes them stand out on the endless grey days we get here.
I sometimes see them digging in the moss on the garage roof, probably looking for insects. They’ll apparently eat almost anything, meat or vegetable. They’ll even go after small animals and other birds. They’d probably give any predator a run for its money, too.
They’re here all year, but I never see them for very long. I have no idea where their nests are – they’re not like the chickadees, who actually use the house my son built for them. They grab what they need and take off – but we always know we’ll see that flash of blue again, sooner or later.
