Provincial bird of British Colombia shot in Alberta

[LKILR]

Took this pic last year. Had to look it up on Wikipedia. Though it was a blue jay. But turns out it’s a Stellars Jay, the provincial bird of BC.

[Selkirk]

Steller's Jays are quite common in both BC, and SW Alberta.

Link; https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Stellers_Jay/id

Selkirk

[bat119]

lovely plumage!

[Ken07AOVette]

Cool looking bird. I wish they were here

[KGB]

Crap I thought we are having a new thing here in Alberta in response to BC not allowing the pipeline - shooting their provincial birds...

[owlhoot]

I used to see them in the West Castle area quite often but I haven't been down there in a while.

[pgavey]

We rented a place in Beaver Mines last summer and fall. I fed peanuts to a few stellers jays on the deck of the house we rented. Beautiful bird.

[Wes_G]

Pretty cool birds, bold as well. Would see them up at Cameron lake all the time. I think all the fires last summer pushed them out of there more native ranges, I saw them in many areas I had never seen them before.

Here is a few photo's I got in Waterton a couple years ago

[Mulehahn]

Grew up around stellar jays. Beautiful birds, but man... are they vicious in the spring around their nests. Swear they must have inspired Hitchcock. But they are great birds.

[expedition]

While hunting around Grande cache seen one land on truck window sill and attack his own image in the side mirror . Was an even match lol

[Fisherpeak]

I have them and normal blue jays here all winter. They love peanuts and dry dog food. But they sure have loud rude voices! I like `em though. I have a big piliated woodpecker (think woody) that beats crap out of the power pole across the street every morning. Thing is as big as a crow.

[thumper]

We've got a few one-eyed squirrels around our BC cabin, from encounters over peanuts with Stellar jays. If a resident pair sets up in your yard - they'll eat every song-bird egg or nestling around. They also have a bad habit of nesting under the eaves on top of yard/flood lights. If you have timers or motion-sensor lights and are absent from your cabin - they can burn it down!

Beautiful birds though!

[Fisherpeak]

I used to squirrels here too. Destructive awfull things when they get in a garage or shed. Thank you Mr. Crossman.

[Mr Flyguy]

Years ago I found a dead baby blue jay in the back yard (a cat attack) and picked up the body for disposal. Didn't realize I was being watched by the parents and was dive bombed for two weeks after that!

If the feeding platform has no peanuts the jays will watch for me through the kitchen window and squawk until a refill comes! Smart birds!

[kevinhits]

Originally Posted by KGB

Crap I thought we are having a new thing here in Alberta in response to BC not allowing the pipeline - shooting their provincial birds...

I was thinking the same thing when I read the title

[Red Bullets]

While sitting under a tree I had a stellar jay land a couple feet in front of my face and started yaking at me. He flew away a couple minutes later. I encountered this bird 3 times over a 2 week period. The neat part was that this bird was 15 miles from metro Edmonton. Not part of the stellar jays typical range.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

While sitting under a tree I had a stellar jay land a couple feet in front of my face and started yaking at me. He flew away a couple minutes later. I encountered this bird 3 times over a 2 week period. The neat part was that this bird was 15 miles from metro Edmonton. Not part of the stellar jays typical range.

I have blue jays overwintering in my neighbourhood, which I think is also atypical for them. First question someone asked when I said they were blue jays was "are you sure they weren't Stellar's Jays?" Anyway, I think their usual ranges are changing. Also I've noticed a lot more magpies way deep in the bush of late...not sure if I'm going crazy, but I never thought of them as a deep woods bird.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by KGB

Crap I thought we are having a new thing here in Alberta in response to BC not allowing the pipeline - shooting their provincial birds...

[The Cook]

Originally Posted by kevinhits

I was thinking the same thing when I read the title

Only if they are carrying wine in their feet.