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Steller's jay (coastal)

Cyanocitta stelleri

Photo by mauna Kunzah
Published on Project Noah
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46.7797, -121.742

Field Notes

Description:

The adult coastal morph/western-variety is distinguished by blue streaks on its black crest.

Habitat:

Seen perched on an evergreen tree in a forest at an altitude of around 5000 feet in Mount Rainier National Park.

Notes:

It was my first sighting of this west coast bird! It's also known as a mountain or pine jay. Stellar's jays found in the western interior differ from the coastal morph in that the former have white-streaked crests. There are possibly 16 subspecies.

Reference Links:

Steller's jay-Encyclopedia of Life, Steller's jay - Wikipedia, Steller's Jay Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
mauna Kunzah
Isn't it? It was my first Steller's jay sighting.
Ayleen
Beautiful bird. Never seen one like that in my life.
mauna Kunzah
Thank you, Tukup! You’re lucky to have seen a gray jay... it’s on my list. :)
Tukup
Great spotting Mauna. I saw my first Steller's Jay (along with the Canadian/Gray Jay) last month in the mountains of Colorado. I'll have to see if I can spot the difference in the crests. Thanks for the tip. Hope to post it soon. Good to see some new spottings again :-)

Spotted for Missions

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Birds of the World
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The Pacific Northwest Bioregion
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The Color Blue
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Mission WILD
Mission
Flora and Fauna of Cascadia (Pacific Northwest North America)

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Photographed
PublishedSeptember 21, 2019

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