Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri This information was scanned from The Birds of British Columbia (Campbell et al.), Volume III, pages 194-201. Volumes I, II and III of The Birds of British Columbia can be ordered electronically at: orders@ubcpress.ubc.ca from UBC Press in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Range Resident from southeastern Alaska, northwestern and central British Columbia, southwestern Alberta, western Montana, Wyoming, western Colorado, and New Mexico south to southern California, Arizona, southwestern Texas, and the Middle American highlands to Nicaragua.

Status On the coast, uncommon to locally fairly common resident, including Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands. In the interior, uncommon to locally fairly common resident across the Southern Interior and Southern Interior Mountains ecoprovinces; rare to fairly common in the Cariboo and Chilcotin areas of the Central Interior Ecoprovince; rare to uncommon in the Sub-Boreal Interior Ecoprovince; very rare in the Peace Lowland of the Boreal Plains Ecoprovince and in the Northern Boreal Mountains Ecoprovince. Absent from the Taiga Plains Ecoprovince. Locally, common to very common during irruptive movements in autumn and winter, across the southern portions of the province. Breeds.

Status Change In 1947 the Steller's Jay was unknown in the interior of the province north of latitude 56°N or in the Peace River drainage basin (Munro and Cowan 1947). The first evidence of its entry into the Peace River region is a specimen taken on the banks of East Pine River, 64 km west of Daw son Creek Robin 1955). While it has not become a regular occupant of the region, it has recently been observed in the area between Chetwynd and Fort St. John and north as far as Rose Prairie, areas formerly occupied only by the Blue Jay. More recently it has extended its range into the Northern Boreal Mountains, where in 1959 it was recorded at Marion Creek in the Spatsizi Plateau. In 1972 it was discovered at Cassiar and along the Haines Highway, between Miles 52 and 54.

Nonbreeding The Steller's Jay is widely distributed throughout south coastal British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, but is less abundant on the northern mainland of the Coast and Mountains Ecoprovince, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and other offshore islands. In the interior, it has a widespread distribution through the Southern Interior and Southern Interior Mountains, but becomes less numerous in the Central Interior, the Sub-Boreal Interior to the Cassiar Mountains, and northwest to the Tatshenshini Basin. East of the Rocky Mountains, it occurs in the Peace Lowland of the province. It has not yet been reported from the Taiga Plains in the far northeastern corner of the province. The highest numbers in winter occur on southeastern Vancouver Island and the Fraser River delta regions of the Georgia Depression, and on Western Vancouver Island The Steller's Jay occurs at elevations from near sea level to 1,500 m on the coast, and from the valley bottoms around 300 m up to 2,150 m in the interior. It frequents a wide range of coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forest communities, from the Coastal Douglas-fir and Mountain Hemlock zones on the coast to the Ponderosa Pine and Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir zones of the interior. In the far north and northeast, it inhabits the Boreal White and Black Spruce Zone. Although the Steller's Jay can be sympatric with the Gray Jay, especially on winter ranges, it prefers lower elevations than the Gray Jay. For example, in the Southern Interior Mountains from September to March, the Steller's Jay is primarily confined to the interior cedar-hemlock forests at a mean elevation of 884 m ill = 221), while the Gray Jay is found in the Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir forests at a mean elevation of 1,280 m (n = 47) (J.G. Woods pers. comm.). The Steller's Jay usually frequents open woodlands, edges of clearings, transmission line rights-of-way, breaks in the forest, and riparian growth along waterways. Other habitats include swamps, bogs, second-growth forests, and brushy clearcuts. In dense forests, it occurs only along the edges. The Steller's Jay also readily uses human-made habitats such as well-treed residential neighbourhoods, parks, golf courses, nut-orchards, cemeteries, campgrounds, picnic grounds, gardens, road rights-of-way, and garbage dumps. It is often seen on the gravelled shoulders of highways through forested regions. Although the Steller's Jay is considered a resident throughout its range, it appears to be an attitudinal migrant. This seasonal movement is more regular in the interior than on the coast, but even there it can be erratic, sometimes starting as early as July. It usually begins in August and reaches a peak in September or October. In the Cariboo and Chilcotin areas, and in the Okanagan (Cannings et al. 1987), this jay may appear at valley bottom bird feeders in late September and leave by early April. In the east Kootenay, the movement to the valley bottom is noticeable in September; by March the birds begin returning to their nesting elevations. The same behaviour can be found on the south coast. Based on banding returns, individual Steller's Jays are also known to wander erratically over considerable distances (Table 6). There is also evidence for at least a limited north-south migration. In the autumn of 1927, Steller's Jays were captured and banded at Indianpoint Lake (McCabe and McCabe 1928). The banding revealed that what was believed to be a small resident group involved a steady turnover of individuals as part of a latitudinal movement. Each jay was present at the banding site for an average of 3 days before moving on. One banded bird was recovered 2 weeks later 200 km south, at Vavenby. In another instance, an immature bird banded near Barkerville was recovered 150 km to the south, near Canim Lake (Table 6). Birds in the northern ecoprovinces appear to move out of those regions, while in the southern ecoprovinces numbers appear relatively constant or build through the winter. The southern areas could be receiving birds from the north as well as birds moving into the valley bottoms from their higher-elevation breeding areas. Evidence of a latitudinal movement is strongest on the coast. There the number of records and the total birds seen reach their highest levels in August or September and decline into the winter. This suggests that the birds are not just arriving on a winter range but are passing through. Further evidence to support this movement comes in the form of banding returns. A bird banded near Richmond was found nearly 170 km to the southeast at Darrington, Washington (Jewett et al. 1953; Table 6). Another bird, banded near Port Hardy, was found near Richmond (Table 6). The situation at Victoria differs in that when the influx of "migrants" reaches the shoreline at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, it is confronted by a substantial barrier in the form of a sea crossing of at least 11 km to reach the San Juan Islands or 24 km to the Olympic Peninsula. Observation and banding studies undertaken near Victoria during the winter of 1992 revealed that the jays collect in flocks in shoreline trees, the flocks at times consisting of over 90 birds. These birds indicate an urge to continue southward; however, after testing the distance several times, they appear to give up and disperse onto winter areas in and around Victoria. This dispersal of the "migrating" groups may be easily misinterpreted as a departure on continued southward migration. One flock of 12 was seen to embark on the crossing of Haro Strait to San Juan Island; however, there is no evidence that this is a characteristic event (Stewart and Shepard 1994). Banding confirmed that most of the birds pass the winter near Victoria as relatively sedentary groups. The autumn populations of the Steller's Jay differ significantly from year to year, and from time to time the movement to lowland areas of Vancouver Island results in large concentrations (Munro and Cowan 1947). For example, unusually large numbers of jays occurred in the vicinity of Victoria in the autumns of the following years: 1913 (J.A. Munro in Bent 1946),1919 (Anderson 1920),1922-23 (J.A. Munro in Bent 1946), 1940 (Pearse 1946), 1957 (Schultz 1958a), and at least 5 times over the period 1958 to 1993. These latter irruptions are noticeable on the Victoria Christmas Bird Counts. Similar, although less dramatic, concentrations can be seen on other Christmas Bird Counts in the province. In winter, the Steller's Jay is more abundant in lowland habitats, both natural and human-influenced, than during other seasons. For example, Cannings et al. (1987) note a distinct movement in winter to riparian thickets and residential areas in the Okanagan valley, and the same is true in the vicinity of Victoria, Vancouver, and the many other towns on eastern Vancouver Island and in the Fraser Lowland. They rarely stay to nest. On the coast, these jays disperse to breeding areas in March or April, and in the interior, in April or May. The Steller's Jay occurs every month of the year in all but 3 ecoprovinces. In the Sub-Boreal Interior there are no March records, in the Boreal Plains records are lacking for May and July, and in the Northern Boreal Mountains the few records are between 13 June and 8 September.

Breeding Nests Eggs Nest Success The known nesting distribution of the Steller's Jay is concentrated along the southern regions of the province from the International Boundary north to about latitude 51 °30'N, although it likely breeds throughout most of its range in the province. Its breeding status in the Peace Lowland of the Boreal Plains and in the Northern Boreal Mountains remains uncertain. There is only 1 nesting record north of the latitude of Rogers Pass, although we have records of fledged young from Barney Creek and Pine Pass in the Sub-Boreal Interior, and from Langara Island and Graham Island on the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Steller's Jay reaches its highest numbers in summer in the Georgia Depression and on Western Vancouver Island. An analysis of Breeding Bird Surveys for the period 1968 through 1993 shows that the number of birds on coastal routes has increased at an average annual rate of 3%. Surveys for interior routes contain insufficient data for analysis. North American populations appear stable (Robbins et al. 1986). The Steller's Jay nests from near sea level to 1,830 m elevation. Most nests (66%; n = 70) were found in human influenced coniferous, mixed forest, or woodland habitat. One-third of the nests were found in undisturbed forest. This sample is probably heavily biased by the greater likelihood of nests close to human habitation being discovered, and does not reflect the normal distribution of nesting habitat. Forest types included Interior Douglas-fir, Interior Western Hemlock/Redcedar, and Subalpine Fir/ White Spruce. Specific nest habitat included backyard, farm, and recreational area environments (88%; n = 48), and both young and mature forest, including forest edges (12%). In the Okanagan and Kootenay valleys, most nests were found in treed gardens. The Steller's Jay has been recorded breeding on the coast from 1 April (calculated) to 28 June; in the interior, it has been recorded from 3 April (calculated) to 6 July.

Nests:  Most nests (85%; 71 = 41) were situated in coniferous trees. These were usually small second-growth trees, almost equally divided between Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, and spruce. Other categories of nests sites included deciduous vegetation (9%), mostly garden shrubs, and buildings (6%; Grant 1949). The majority of nests were set on horizontal branches close to the trunk and near the top of the tree. When nesting near human habitation, the jays frequently placed the nest within a few feet of a window, verandah, or well-used pathway, suggesting that some birds can tolerate a fair amount of disturbance. The heights of 65 nests ranged from ground level to 9 m, with 68% between 2 and 5 m. The base of the nests consisted of coarse twigs (69%; n = 55) or branches (28%), with dry grass present in 35% of nests, and leaves, moss, string, plant stems, and other materials in lower frequency. Several nests had a mud cup (24%); the most frequent lining material of the deep cup consisted of fine rootlets, sometimes with fine grass, moss, and paper. Eggs: Dates for 35 clutches ranged from 4 April to 3 July, with 60% recorded between 19 April and 24 May. Calculated dates indicate that nests can have eggs as early as 1 April. Sizes of 28 clutches ranged from 3 to 5 eggs (3E-1, 4E-26, 5E-1), with 93% having 4 eggs. The incubation period is about 16 days (Ehrlich et al. 1988). Nest Success: Of 8 nests found with eggs and followed to a known fate, 3 produced at least 1 fledgling. This low success rate may well be an artifact of the proximity of many nests to human disturbance. Young: Dates for 40 broods ranged from 13 April to 6 July, with 51% recorded between 14 May and 9 June. Sizes of 26 broods ranged from 2 to 5 young (2Y-6, 3Y-6, 4Y-12, 5Y-2), with 69% having 3 or 4 young. The nestling period is about 20 days (Goodwin 1976). Brown-headed Cowbird Parasitism: Cowbird parasitism was not found in British Columbia in 66 nests recorded with eggs or young. There are no instances of parasitism reported for North America (Friedmann et al. 1977; Friedmann and Kiff 1985).

Remarks The American Ornithologists' Union (1957) recognizes 6 subspecies of the Steller's Jay in North America, 3 of which occur in British Columbia. C. s. stelleri is generally resident on the coast from southeast Alaska south to Oregon; C. s. annectens is resident in the interior east of the Coast Mountains (Brooks 1927); C. s. carlottae is an endemic subspecies, resident on the Queen Charlotte Islands. C.s. carlottae has the most restricted distribution of the 6 subspecies, and probably a small total population. For details of the identifying features of the subspecies, see Stevenson (1934). Infrequent hybridization between the Steller's Jay and the Blue Jay is thought by some authors to indicate that the two constitute a superspecies (American Ornithologists' Union 1983). In 1987 the Steller's Jay was declared the official provincial bird of British Columbia. Over 80,000 residents participated in a vote to select a provincial bird to commemorate the centennial of wildlife conservation in Canada.