Western Scrub Jay photo by William G. Mancebo
The warm autumn days we have been experiencing here in Northern California have made for some great bird watching! We have Scrub Jays here year round but the Steller’s Jay you will see below is a bird we don’t see all that much. I have posted them both here so you can see the difference between the two.
The Western Scrub Jay is a large songbird with a blue head, wings and tail. They have a gray back, grayish underparts, with a whitish throat and a thin white eyebrow. They are 11 – 12 inches long with a wingspan of about 15 inches and weigh 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 ounces.
Scrub Jays commonly inhabit scrub oak, chaparral, pinyon-juniper stands and residential areas. This Western variety will feed on parasites on the body and head of mule dear but both the Western Scrub Jay and the Steller’s Jay are omnivorous, eating insects, berries, nuts, and seeds.
The jays in my area, where we have an over abundance of acorns this year, have deep, stout, slightly hooked bills good for hammering open acorns and ripping off the shells. They are frequent, although not always welcome, visitors to feeding stations.
Steller’s Jay photo by Walter Amman
The Steller’s Jay is a large songbird and the only jay west of the Rockies with a crest. As you can see from this photo they have a black crested head with foreparts and upper back also black. Their lower back, wings and tail are deep blue. They are 12 – 13 1/2 inches long with a wingspan of about 16 inches and weigh 3 1/2 to 5 ounces.
Steller’s Jays commonly inhabit coniferous and pine-oak forests. They are aggressive and often hop up trees, one branch at a time in a spiral fashion. These birds have a harsh “shaak, shaak” call and they will also mimic the Red-Tailed Hawk’s scream to the dismay of the other songbirds in the area.
I enjoy seeing these two species occasionally around the yard. They are both very colorful and energetic birds. I know their loud calls and agressive behavior put some people off but they are beneficial, insect eating birds and I enjoy them as long as they are only occasional visitors.
There have been several other recent sightings in my area that I will be mentioning in upcoming posts. Look for the Northern Harrier Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk, Northern Flicker, Western Meadowlark (one of my all time favorite song birds), Dark-Eyed Junco and Song Sparrow coming soon!
You can see more of William G. Mancebo’s photos by clicking on his link in the Blogroll!
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Hi – thank you for this article. We have a Steller Jay in a nest on top of our front porch light. I’m wondering if she’s sitting on any eggs. She spends a lot of time in the nest and even stays there when we go in and out of the front door. Her mate warns her when anyone comes up the driveway but she’s gotten used to my husband and me so she doesn’t leave when she sees us coming and going.
We keep the light on at night for a few hours and it doesn’t seem to bother her (it’s only 15w) but i’m wondering if she’s sitting on any eggs, would the light have a negative effect? Would really appreciate your reply.
Thanks again.
Catherine
Hi Catherine,
I’m sorry it took me so long to reply to your question. It is a very busy time of year for cavity nesting monitors! I don’t think that having the 15 watt light on would have any effect on their nesting habits. They may have built the nest there for the added warmth. In what part of the country do you live?
My guess would be that she is incubating eggs if she is on the nest continuously. My experience is that once a bird starts incubating eggs they seldom, if ever, leave the nest. Usually their partner will bring food to the nest for the setting bird or they will switch off sitting on the nest, depending on the species. Steller’s Jays eggs are incubated by the female for 17 or 18 days.
You may be able to get up above the nest so you can see into it and find out how many eggs she has in the clutch (if she will leave the nest when you get close enough). Don’t worry about “scaring” her away, she will come right back after you leave and continue incubating. They will usually have 4 to 6 blue-green eggs speckled with dark spots. Once they hatch, the chicks should be old enough to fledge at around 16 days.
If you are able to see the eggs in the nest and especially if you know approximately when you first noticed her sitting there all the time, you may be able to figure out when the babies will hatch. Once they hatch you will know because both parents will be flying off to feed the little ones. You can observe them close up when the parents are gone but don’t handle the chicks and don’t disturb them at all once they are around 13 days old to prevent them from flying out of the nest too early.
Please keep me updated on their activities as I love to talk to other folks about what’s going on in their neck of the woods.
Happy Birding!