FALL AND THE STELLER’S JAY

FALL AND THE STELLER’S JAY

Written by Colin Bartlett

The first day of fall is this Friday September 22 and a sure sign that fall is in the air is the call of the Steller’s Jay which has begun to echo about the neighbourhoods. Usually we can expect to see jays visiting our backyards beginning as early as late August and in the past couple of week’s sightings of Steller’s Jays at backyard feeders have been reported. Just this past week I heard the jays around my neighbourhood in the hospital area and one has stopped by for a few peanuts.

The Steller’s Jay is not a Blue Jay, they are two different species. The Blue Jay is lighter in colour, and a little smaller than the Steller’s Jay. Also the Blue Jay is seen east of the Rocky Mountains and the Steller’s are seen only on the west side of the Rockies.

Usually you will here the Steller’s Jay before you see it and it is easy to identify a Steller’s Jay by their load call of shack-shack-shack but they are also good mimics of other bird’s calls. Other than identifying the Steller’s Jay by its call, you can identify it by beautiful deep blue on the back with a black head, chest and a large crest which can be raised and lowered at will. Just above the bill the Steller’s Jays on the island have a light blue marking compared to those on the mainland that have a white marking. As for size they are a little bigger than the American Robin at eleven inches and have a wing span of about seventeen inches.

Steller’s Jays can be one of those birds that you either love or hate. When they first return it is great to see a new species in the backyard but sometimes they can be a little too cheeky and pushy. According to the pecking order of birds, those who get to eat first, the jay’s rank high because of their size. To keep the jays from scaring off the other birds and from hoarding all the food, wrap your bird feeder with a 2x2 stucco mesh or chicken wire. It sometimes takes a little time for the smaller birds to get use to the wire around the feeder but they will be able to get through to the feeder and it will help deter the jays. Once you have done this place another feeder out away from the main feeder, giving the larger birds their own feeding area.

Jays feed on a wide variety of food from insects to small vertebrates, fir cones and other natural seeds depending on the region. As for the backyard bird feeders the Steller’s Jay prefers peanuts, whether in the shell or shelled, sunflower seeds and suet. They will also take table scraps but this is not recommended. Jays also hoard and cache away food for the winter just in case of rough times, and yes they do know where they have stored the seeds, but they do not need to use their cache of seeds when there is a steady supply of food at the bird feeder.   

Birds are energy efficient, and will weigh each shell and take only the ones that are heavy. To observe this place out six to ten peanuts in the shell for the Steller’s Jays along a deck railing or on a table and watch as the jays pick each peanut and checks the weight. They are looking for the heaviest peanuts, which should provide the biggest seeds and most nutrients. Although the jays will take the heaviest peanuts first, in the end they will take all the peanuts.

Last fall there were many reports about the disappearance of the jays were not to far away, they were up in the woods feeding on the bumper crop of natural seed last year. This year we will have to wait and see what the jays are up to and if we will see many around and for how long. Although the Steller’s Jay may seem to be a bit of a bully around the feeders they are a colourful bird to see and create a lot of activity around the backyard.

Good birding!!