September 2008 - Steller's Jay |
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| Cyanocitta stelleri |
The handsome Steller's Jay, provincial bird of British Columbia, is found all along the western side of North America.
With its striking plumage, black crest and noisy calls, it is easily identified.
It feeds on the ground and forages in tree tops, too, enjoying insects and small vertebrates as well as
nuts, berries and other birds' eggs. Nests are built out of twigs and sticks with mud also used in construction and lining.
The bird was named after George Steller, the first European naturalist to visit Alaska, and who documented the bird in the 1740s.
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