The Steller’s Jay is a familiar scavenger that mostly lives west of the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Mexico. The most noticeable difference from the common Blue Jay is its coloring. It uniquely has extensive black on the head and upper body while the common Bluejay has a white head or possibly more accurately a blue and white head.
Steller’s Jay is one of two species in the genus Cyanocitta, the other species being the Blue Jay. The Cyanocitta genus in turn belongs to the Corvidae family, which consists of the ravens, crows, jackdaws, rooks, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers, for a total of more than 120 species.
The nearby relatives of the Corvidae are the shrikes, and Birds of Paradise. Most of the birds are very nervous and flee quickly, but will come in quite close to people to get food. They generally are found in groups but are smaller than the flocks of crows often seen in the west. It is a relative of the Crow, and shows the opportunistic behavior patterns of the crow, but is lesser, and more aggressive.
Also Read: The White-whiskered Laughingthrush
