Steller's Jay Dispersal in Pacific NW

["J. Harry Krueger" <hkrueger at cableone dot net>]

This Fall there has been a pronounced movement of Steller's Jay into numerous localities across the region that usually do not have birds present.  It has been generally assumed that these are birds moving attitudinally rather than from a distance, but perhaps this is an assumption that should be reassessed in the light of information available.

 

Currently there are sixteen (16) subspecies of Steller's Jay, ranging south all the way to Nicaragua, with four (4) in the Pacific Northwest as follows:. 

• The nominate Cyanocitta stelleri stelleri is a coastal bird, ranging from s. Alaska to western WA and NW OR and is identified by its blackish gray head, crest and upper breast, often with light blue streaks on the foreheads, though some individuals have a completely black forehead; the throat is pale and streaky. There is no white either above or below the eye. 
• C. s. carlottae is found only on the Queen Charlotte Is. archipelago, British Columbia, and is the darkest of all the races, with jet black crest and a black to blackish gray back and mantle; there is no white patch around the eye and the throat-patch is streaky grayish. 
• C. s. annectens is found from interior British Columbia and sw. Alberta to e. Washington, n. Idaho, w. Montana, ne. Oregon, and nw. Wyoming. It is quite similar to C. s. stelleri, but has a cluster of pale-tipped feathers, forming silvery/whiteish spot above eye, is slightly paler with a dark gray back, mantle, and neck contrasting with a black head and crest and light sky blue underparts. C. s. frontalis is a bird of central Oregon south through the mountains of California.  Its head, back, and crest are blackish gray  with blue streaks on the forehead extending over the crown and a bluish tinge at end of long crest-feathers; there is no silver or white around the eye.
• Finally, C. s. macrolopha is found in the Rocky Mtns. from s. and e. Nevada, Utah, se. Wyoming, sw. South Dakota, w. Nebraska to sw. Texas and Sierra Madre Occidental in n. Sonora and n. Chihuahua, Mexico.  Its crest is black with a forehead conspicuously streaked silvery white to light sky blue; a white stripe is found over the eye and a white fleck below the eye.

I currently have received photos of at least two birds (one from Spokane, WA and another from north-central Idaho) that definitely are C. s. macrolopha, strongly suggesting a movement of birds into this area from more eastern mountains rather than just an altitudinal dispersion.  It would be very instructive to have further documentation (photos and/or descriptions) relating to the birds that are currently being seen in the region(s).  Again, as with the Blue Jay invasion, I will keep you all updated as to developments as I am able to discern them. I will shortly post the above pictures (and any others that would help illustrate the subspecies in question and/or document dispersion on www.IdahoBirds.net ).

 

Harry Krueger

Boise

208-407-2786

hkrueger@cableone.net