Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Jays,Crows & Kin

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


I am diving into my archives for this post which includes the Jays and Kin in the Corvidae family..Some photos of the Blue Jay are from my backyard and other shots are from my travels.



The two shots above are from my backyard. The Blue Jay is a regular year round visitor in  my yard.  It loves peanuts in and out of the shell. They are loud and always announce their presence on my deck. They are able to imitate a hawk sound so well it really fools me and my little birds.






The Stellar Jay was a common sight during our Washington State travels.. It has a sooty black head and crest, blue wings and tail.



Sorry, for the quality of this shot above but it is the only one I could find of the Gray Jay I was while traveling around Wyoming and Montana.  I need to do some checking on my back up files for a better shot of the Gray Jay. It is a beautiful bird, it is dark gray above and pale gray below. This Jay does NOT have a crest.



The Clark's Nutcracker was seen at Bryce National Park. This bird has a long bill, gray body with black wings.

 And the (Corvidae) Corvid family also includes the following



 The Common Raven has a heavy bill, long wings and tail. The Raven seems to be a more common sight in the western part of the USA.


These Ravens were seen in the Bryce Nat'l Park in Utah.







The Black-billed Magpie was a common bird seen in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. They were usually hanging around the parking lots. They have a black head and breast, white belly and an elegant long tail.






 The Corvid family includes a list of Crows. Above is the American Crow seen in my backyard. The American Crow is overall black, also has a heavy bill, broad wings shorter than the Raven. Somewhere I may have a shot of the Fish Crow seen during my travels.. I wish I had labeled my older photos, to save a lot of searching. 

I am missing a few or more Jays for my lifer list.. Some day it will be nice to see some of the other Jays like the: Brown Jay, Pinyon Jay, Mexican Jay and my favorite the Green Jay.  There are also three Scrub Jays: the Western Scrub Jay, Island Scrub Jay and one I have seen the Florida Scrub Jay. Did you know there were so many Jays?

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

70 comments:

DeniseinVA said...

I did not know there were so many Jays, fun to learn about them. Wonderful photos and a lovely variety. Have a great day Eileen :)

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Great collection Eileen! I haven't seen most of these before.

Seraphinas Phantasie said...

Wonderful photos of the different birds. My favorite is your second shot. Amazing !
Best regards, Synnöve

jp@A Green Ridge said...

I never knew a jay can mirror a hawk...they are so noisy and not one of my favorites. We get them occasionally but not as much as crows...:)JP

Ramakrishnan said...

Beautiful pictures of these adorable birds !

imac said...

Wonderful shots,

Bob Bushell said...

The Blue Jay is terrific, and others too, well done Eileen.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i don't believe i have seen a Stellar Jay ... i have been out west ... i wonder if i missed him? birdie shots are great! ( :

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I love that picture of the Clark's Nutcracker. And also that picture of the Blue Jay with the shelled peanut in his mouth lol.

Carole M. said...

now we both have magpies in our current posts and I think yours is so unlike our magpie; I love that long tail!

Minoru Saito said...

Hi,Eileen. Nice captures. There are various kind of birds, I enjoyed your photos very much. Thanks for sharing.

Hootin Anni said...

LOVE the blue jay with the peanut. And the black billed magpie is STUNNING.

Phil Slade said...

I liked your Crow Day Eileen. It was good to see them all together aand compare notes. I must say the Clark's Nutcracker is my favourite shot, as well as a bird I would dearly love to see. Enjoy the rest of your bird week.

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

All excellent shots.

I remember when I moved to Florida from West Texas and saw my first Blue Jay (Cardinal, egret...) I couldn't stop going ahhhhhhhwww

:O

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

I didn't realize there were so many jays in the family nor that the rascals could imitate a hawk.
There are quite a few birds I'm seeing on vacation but I haven't a clue what most of them are.

Pondside said...

We often see Stellar Jays here - they are our provincial bird. Ravens flock around Pondside, and I quite like them!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Those blue jays are so beautiful! Lovely to see so many different corvids.

What kind of jay would i have been likely to see in Calfornia? My only birding memory of my childhood holiday there is of a jay, I've always assumed a blue jay, but having seen photos, I'm not so sure.

TexWisGirl said...

of these, i've only seen the blue jay and american crow. would LOVE to see a handsome magpie!

Icy BC said...

They are beautiful birds, Eileen, and I am amazed that you remember all their names too!!

Irma said...

Wonderful pictures Eileen.
The Jay is really beautiful, the colors are different as the jay in the Netherlands.

George said...

I very much enjoyed your photos of the Corvidae family. Your picture of the Blue Jay with the large peanut in its mouth is marvelous.

Karen said...

I love Blue Jays, they are such characters! I saw Stellers out west. That Magpie is quite handsome. Terrific shots!

Mary Howell Cromer said...

They are wonderful Eileen and guess what...my reading list is back up after it being missed for 2 whole days. So a sigh of releif...I feel so much better having access to that so I can keep up. Have a wonderful day my friend~

KL said...

Don't you love BlueJays -- they are such magnificent, intelligent creatures. Also, a think I like about them -- at least in my bird-feeder, they do not try to dominate or bully any other birds. They are a pleasure to watch. I also love crows and had so many pet crows while growing up in India. They lived outside but knew to come to our home during feeding time -- breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you didn't give food, they would craw loudly and knock on the doors/windows to let you know that they are there.

Ailime said...

Olá Eileen, adorei todas essas aves, mas especialmente o pássaro azul que visita todo o ano a sua casa! Um privilegio. Abraço Ailime

DIMI said...

Hello Eileen!!!Beautiful birds!!Great shots and captures!I really like the Jay bird!!Lovely color!!Wish you a happy week!!Hugs!
Dimi...

September Violets said...

Great shots! Here in Ontario we have the blue jay (love!), American Crow and the ravens (further north). We like to hear the ravens creepy sounds when we're deep in the bush. One of those northern haunting sounds. Wendy x

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

We have so many scrub jays in Oregon, I was shocked when we got here and found out that the Florida one is listed as rare.

I have never known exactly what the difference is between ravens and crows. Just size?

Amazing wonders in my life said...

Awesome shots... Loved with the groundnut

Our Neck of the Woods said...

Amazing photos, Eileen! That 2nd blue jay photo looks like something out of a Birds & Blooms magazine. Lovely!

Ana MĂ­nguez Corella said...

Nice pictures.. Great birds.. Cheers.

Laura said...

Lovely series of these birdy cousins Eileen:>

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Oh wonderful pictures. Love the Stellar Jay, one of my favorites - and they do indeed set up quite a ruckus - but I love it. I saw where someone calls them Stella Jays - cracks me up - did they never read anything? LOL

We have the Magpies in Eastern WA - had so much fun taking photos of them one year - and the Scrub Jays are friendly and will sit on our finger.

Ravens here too - lots of them - I love the croaking noise they make.

Great photos.

Gail Dixon said...

I have yet to get a shot of the blue jay with a big unshelled nut! Great shots, all, especially the jay and the magpie. :)

betty-NZ said...

What a lovely array of feathered friends! They are all great shots.

HansHB said...

A lovely serie!
Well done!

EG CameraGirl said...

I'm impressed with the different kinds of jays you have seen. I am very familiar with blue jays as they frequent my feeders as they do yours. And gray jays are easy to find in the Algonquin Provincial Park, a place I like to viist a few times every year. But the rest are totally foreign to me.:))

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen, I used to see Yellow Billed Magpies all the time when I lived in Sacramento so your shots of the Black-bliied ones were so nice to see. I never have seen a FL Scrub Jay but am always on the look-out for one. Your Crows are great, too! Nice selection. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Stephanie said...

Love the Blue Jays and the Ravens.

Brian King said...

Very nice! I love crows and ravens, though we don't see ravens around here. The Nutcracker is a cool bird! It's neat how they hide so many pine seeds for the winter and can remember where most of them are.

HappyK said...

My favorite this time is the Blue Jay holding the peanut. WOW!

Connie Smiley said...

Eileen, that shot of the blue jay with the peanut is fantastic, as is the Magpie. We don't get to see them around here, so I especially enjoyed yours.

Pallavi said...

I love the blue jay's electric blue shade! So vivid ! It looks so adorable holding a peanut in his beak :) Great captures Eileen and have a great week ahead!

Lynne said...

Great pictures Eileen . . .

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I didn't know there was such a variety! I love the shot of the Blue Jay with the peanut. :-)

Judi Gray said...

wow! the bluejays are stunning! Great collection of photos.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

That's a beautiful shot of the Blue Jay! We have the Blue Jay and Crows, but the other birds are new to me.

LindyLouMac said...

The blue jay is such a handsome bird, fabulous captures.

Our photos said...

I love the blue jay with the peanut

Kerri Farley said...

Lovely shots Eileen!

Gordon said...

It was very interesting to see the different species of Jay, and the rest weren't shabby either.
Raining hard again here Eileen, hope its beter where you are.
All the best Gordon.

Helma said...

Without your other pictures too short to do I find a really great photo 2 nice picture :-) That huge peanut in his beak is really great to see hahahaha .... Done very nice.
Very nice evening.

Noushka said...

Hello Eileen,
I had no idea you had so many species of jays in the US! How amazing!
I think we have only one or 2... and don't ask me about the second one!! LOL!
Corvids are great birds and their intelligence is astounding!
Lovely post!
Cheers, keep well!

Giga said...

Pięknie ptaki uchwyciłaś na zdjęciach, a drugie zdjecie jest super. Pozdrawiam.
Beautifully birds uchwyciłaś the pictures, and the second photo is great. Yours.

Adam Jones said...

Really nice pictures Eileen.

NatureFootstep said...

don´t think I´ve seen the Stelalr Jay before. Looks nice for a jay. :)

oldthings said...

So beautiful birds and I am impressed that some of them visit your backyard !!!I loved the second photos !!!Have a nice day !
Oypmia

Debbie said...

I have visited twice and your comment box would not load for me :(

Those jays are big piggies.....I would love to see a magpie!!

Another wonderful entry Eileen, so many pretty birds!!

Lynette Killam said...

I love all your bird pics, Eileen! As I sit on line, several Stellar's Jays are outside squawking at me because I haven't filled their water bowl yet. Lovely to look at, but hard on the ears...lol.

SquirrelQueen said...

You have some great shots in your archives Eileen. Ravens and Gray Jays were a common sight when I lived in Alaska. We see Blue Jays and Stellar Jays on the other side of the state. Here we have lots of Magpies and crows.

I love your photos of the Blue Jay with the peanut. It reminds me of the ones that would come to my back door when we lived in Vancouver, WA and beg for peanuts.

orchid0324 said...

Dearest Eileen;
Oh; my husband and I were in awe of your Blue Jay shot with peanut and smiled♡♡♡

What a wide range of birds with great pictures; thank you very much for the feast for the eyes(*^_^*)

Sending you lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

Hazel said...

The ravens remind me of Edgar Allen Poe!

Jen said...

I always think the fish crow looks exactly the same as the American crow. I only know it's not because it says aah-aah instead of caw. I had no idea there were so many jays. I've never even heard of some of these.

Party of 5 said...

love the tracks in the snow...and the lovely peanut shot :)

Betty Manousos said...

oh my, what fabulous scenes you've captured, eileen!
great shots as usual. i really like the blue jay with the peanut.

Unknown said...

Beautiful birds! I love the blue jay. Happy Valentine's Day!

Rohrerbot said...

That's an awesome group of birds! Still looking for the Gray Jay myself:)

Rambling Woods said...

I learn so much from reading your posts and looking at the photos.. Thank you for being a wonderful bird guru for me... Michelle

Elaine said...

Excellent series of shots!

Florence said...

Love those blue jay photos especially. We saw green jays just a couple of weeks ago at the Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. They really are special!

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