Bird of the Week: Steller's Jay
A brilliant reader entry!
Last week, we asked you to send us good birds. And WOW did you deliver. We got dozens of suggestions. They were all beyond incredible, and we will definitely be using them. Thank you so much!!!!!!
But out of all the reader entries, we have to single out one submission. It comes from Randall Sullivan, and it is so thorough, so richly detailed, so fun, that we’ve decided to reproduce it in full. It’s about one of the most beautiful birds we’ve ever seen: the Steller’s jay. Randall, thank you for your dedication to the pursuit of bird knowledge. Thank you for caring about the blog. Thank you for sharing this wonderful Bird of the Week.
OK, over to Randall!!!
RANDALL’S NOTES:
—I mean, just look at the colors and contrast on this beauty!!!
—It’s the only jay native to the West Coast that has a crest (the beautiful black mohawk up top).
—They use mud to construct their nests (similar to the blue jay).
—Speaking of the blue jay: the Steller's jay has been known to interbreed, leading to some really awesome-looking hybrids. There are now 18 subspecies of Steller's jays ranging from Alaska to Nicaragua.
—They will often bury seeds and nuts in the ground or trees for later eating.
—Their call is described as "harsh" but they also can mimic other birds, like hawks, to scare away smaller birds.
—Despite being a European naturalist, their namesake, Georg Steller, was thankfully not a horrible monster. Records indicate he was one of the first Europeans to set foot on Alaskan soil and is responsible for documenting a great number of plants and animals there.
—Side note on that Alaskan expedition: Steller traveled with Vitus Bering (of Bering Strait fame) as the scientist and physician of the expedition. A quick Wikipedia search shows this trip included a massive scurvy outbreak (because they would not take Steller's advice), a shipwreck, Bering's resulting death from the disease, Arctic fox raids on their limited food, and the building of a small boat out of the wrecked boat to get home. Wild stuff!
This is about 1500 times better than anything we could have written. This is why we love you all—because you are brilliant geniuses who know about birds. Thanks again to Randall, and to everyone who sent their recommendations in. We are going to feature them all over the coming weeks and months. Yay!!!!!!
A reminder: you can check out our complete Bird of the Week list here, and get in touch with your bird suggestions at hello@discourseblog.com.
This is so awesome to see on the blog, thank you! I can't wait to see other reader submissions, love this place!
Maybe someday when you get enough subs/support you can get Sabrina Imbler over at Defector to write some guest bird-centric blogs. Given their work so far, you're probably gonna get a banger or two out of the investment.