Moods of the Steller's Jay

[Terry O]

I took advantage of our last day of reasonable weather and great lighting to set up on our deck and watch our feeder area. A couple of Steller's Jays
dropped by. I love the various shades of blue they exhibit.

All shots were with a Canon 40D and a Canon 500mm f4L + 1.4X extender (700mm).









My favorite because of the deep indigo blue

 

[BobH]

Love those little guys! So pretty and such feisty little birds. I've had them cuss me out for disturbing them.

The best trick I've seen was when one was on top of our feeder. Suddenly I heard the distinct skree call of a Red Tailed Hawk, common in this area. All the birds at the feeder scatter for cover, except the stupid Jay. I'm thinking "you're going to get eaten!" As he perches right on top. Suddenly I hear the call again, and notice the Jay's head moving. I realize it's HIM making the sound. He then hops down onto the now vacant feeder, and take his pick of seeds.

Pretty smart bird, eh? But I always wondered. What happens when you do your hawk sound and a real hawk is close by?

 

[BobH]

BTW, did you notice the name and spelling? It's not "Stellar Jay", despite what many people think. It's Steller's, named by the botanist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who was pretty good at naming animals after himself.

 

[Terry O]

Thanks, Bob. Yes, I did note that - in my introduction, I used the correct spelling - in the file names I used the wrong name and didn't go back to fix time Thanks for pointing that out, though, and thanks for your comment. Never played with the 'Hawk' sound

 

[BobH]

Thanks, Bob. Yes, I did note that - in my introduction, I used the correct spelling - in the file names I used the wrong name and didn't go back to fix time Thanks for pointing that out, though, and thanks for your comment. Never played with the 'Hawk' sound

I didn't notice/see it in the file names. My comment was directed at the folks reading this, many people think it's "Stellar" as in "Exceptional".

 

[Bill Anderson]

Those are stellar photos of a Steller's jay.

 

[Terry O]

Thanks, Bill! And thanks, Bob - I wondered - I get it

 

[BobH]

Also, if you're looking to attract Jays, peanuts work well. They seem to really like them, at least my local ones do. They swoop in, grab them, then fly off to eat them, but they'll be back soon for more.

 

[Terry O]

I used to feed peanuts, but almost went broke feeding the jays .