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Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleriOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Steller's Jay Portrait
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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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"shaack, shaack, shaack", "shooka, shooka"

Interesting Facts

 The Steller's Jay and the Blue Jay are the only New World jays that use mud in the construction of their nests.

 Although the reason is not known, they are occasionally observed far outside their normal range. Most of these far-flung individuals appear to be young birds.

 They form flocks outside of the nesting season and often fly across clearings in single file.

 A group of jays has many collective nouns, including a "band", "cast", "party", and "scold" of jays.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Steller's Jay
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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.
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