Steller's Jay

I hadn't seen a Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, for quite some time, so I was very happy when one scolded me today. He didn't pose for a portrait, but I did manage to snap the following shot of him in a dead conifer.  They are quite beautiful birds with their brilliant blue plumage and black crest.

From allaboutbirds.org:  "Steller’s Jays have the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently misspelled names in all of bird watching. Up close, the bird’s dazzling mix of azure and blue is certainly stellar, but that’s not how you spell their name. Steller’s Jays were discovered on an Alaskan island in 1741 by Georg Steller, a naturalist on a Russian explorer’s ship. When a scientist officially described the species, in 1788, they named it after him – along with other discoveries including the Steller’s sea lion and Steller’s Sea-Eagle."

The blog 10000birds.com, has some issues with Steller getting his name attached to this lovely bird.  As the writer Carrie says, "Georg Wilhelm Steller was never in the Rockies in the first place. Also, he has been dead for more than 250 years now. Many of the species that he introduced to European science are also dead (Steller’s Sea Cow), threatened (Steller’s Sea Lion, Steller’s Eider), or have never been seen again (Steller’s Sea Ape, which modern scientists suspect was probably a young and/or deformed Northern Fur Seal.)"  She attributes the thriving of the Steller's jay to the fact that this bird is a Corvid.  In other words, it's a smart, adaptable, opportunistic creature, even though it was saddled with what seems to be an unlucky name.

I have often seen Steller's jays in parts of Alaska, more commonly than I have seen them around here.  I've seen them in the largest numbers in the Pacific Northwest, but I am glad they are Wyomingites, too.

Steller's jays can be thought of as the western version of the blue jay.  In some areas, like in Colorado where the plains meet the Rocky Mountain foothills, their ranges overlap and one can see both west and east at the same time.  I prefer the west--and the western bird--but I admit to being biased.