Critters That Take Flight

Blue Jay

Great Blue Heron

 

Turkeys 

 

Shocking Blue

 Meet Cyanocitta cristata - the Blue Jay.  

Jays are a member of the corvid family which also includes crows, ravens and magpies.

A larger bird with a showy blue and white-appearing plumage with black accents.  I use the term 'appear' as the feathers of this bird do not contain blue pigmentation.  It is the refraction of sunlight that casts the blue hue.

This is a year-round resident and will move only if there is a scarcity of food.  To whit - this bird caches food for future use.  Like other members of the corvid family this is a noisy bird.  They don't sing it likes to 'talk' and is not averse to mimic the call of a hawk to frighten other birds from our backyard feeder.  The name in the first line (above) translates literally to blue chattering bird. 

The blue jay is fun to observe and I have been privileged to observe a flock of them on rare occasion and to be scolded by one while bow hunting.  Even rarer is getting a photo on a trail camera!

True Blue?

Meet Cyanocitta cristata - the Blue Jay.  One of our year-round resident song birds.  And a flashy one at that.

As long as we have a feeder full of seeds and peanuts this bird is a non-migrator around here and sticks with us for the duration of winter.  As a matter of fact this is one of the few birds that saves for a rainy day.  Yup, they will cache food for lean times.  They will also feed on the eggs and young of other birds as well as dead critters they happen-upon. 

This bird has a reputation for being known as the burglar alarm of the woods and will raise a raucous call when an intruder materializes.

Here's a fact that you can use to impress your friends and co-workers.  This bird has not a stitch of blue pigmentation.  The pigment in a blue jay's feathers is melanin - which is brown.  The blue appearance is a consequence of the refraction of sunlight filtering thru the modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs - resulting in a blue light.

Shocking Blue

Meet Cyanocitta cristata - the Blue Jay. 

A larger bird with a showy blue and white-appearing plumage with black accents.  I use the term 'appear' as the feathers of this bird do not contain blue pigmentation.  It is the refraction of sunlight that casts the blue hue.

This is a year-round resident and will move only if there is a scarcity of food.  To whit - this bird caches food for future use and is not averse to mimic the call of a hawk to frighten other birds from my backyard feeder. 

The blue jay is fun to observe and I have been privileged to observe a flock of them on rare occasion and to be scolded by one while bow hunting.  Even rarer is getting a photo on a trail camera!

 

click on the photo for a closer look