The crafty, often pesky Steller’s jay

Published 4:33 am Tuesday, August 16, 2016

My bird of the month is this Steller’s jay that I got with my camera when he came to our bird bath when we lived on Hurricane Creek Road. Most everyone calls them blue jays, but the real blue jays are found east of the Rocky Mountains.

Steller’s jays are deep blue, but they’re also black at their head and neck and have bars on their wings and tails. They breed from Alaska to California and their nests are very difficult to find as they build them from 20-50 feet high in the evergreens. These jays live in the high mountains, where they can survive the winters eating pine seeds. They love acorns when they can find them and they have a habit of hiding food when it is abundant. They’re considered a nuisance by Willamette Valley filbert growers because they grab the nuts, stash them away and return all day long.

They are a very noisy bird. When they discover an owl trying to get some sleep, they pester it by screeching and whistling to let every song bird know the predator is nearby.

These jays have a habit that I’ve witnessed my entire life — they fly to the bottom of a tall pine or fir tree and start climbing it like a spiral staircase by hopping up the limbs until they reach the top. Then they fly to the bottom of the next tree and repeat.

Though they’re quite noisy, when nesting season comes they become quiet and secretive. They also can whistle like a hunter calling his dog, and they can perfectly imitate the sound of a red-tailed hawk.

In most of our national parks, they find food at the picnic area and will practically take food scraps from your hands. Perhaps their best survival skill is their knack for stashing surplus food to help get them through winter.