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| 'BR' of Yosemite NP |
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| Birdgirrl |
The Steller's Jay is the boisterous bird that hops right across your picnic table to snatch a pretzel or peanut. They are often in campgrounds making a racket in trees surrounding your tent in oak/pine and coniferous woodlands. It has a long black crest (mohawk) and a garrulous, bold nature. You may find one of its feathers on the trails, and it takes some restraint to leave it there. These attractive and faintly black-striped feathers contain no blue pigmentation! Their blue is an optical effect which is due to "structural coloration."
"There is no blue pigment in bird feathers- instead, the color results
from the way light interacts with nanoscale bubbles in the feather barbs" (Schmoker, Bill). Jays belong to the
Corvidae family and are grouped along with songbirds, but not for their singing ability, because they sound like squawkers and screechers. You won't have to tiptoe or creep around to see a Steller's Jay because he or she will not shy away. They may pick a fight with you if you loiter around their nests. I have had my hair messed up by another species in this family, the Western Scrub-Jay. If you can't get enough on avian coloration...
National Geographic Bird Coloration by Geoffrey Edward Hill
http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Stellers-Jay-Coloration.htm
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