He has a sleek hairstyle that seems to have been blown by a strong wind. The sapphire feathers and the gentle singing voice are unforgettable. Hi, this is the Dark-crowned Blue Jay, aka Steller's Jay, The Taller Blue Jay, with a total of 6 subspecies, is a provincial bird of British Columbia, Canada.
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It is a relative of the North American crested blue jay, except that the head and neck of the dark crested blue jay are black.
Crown blue crow
The two birds have very similar hairstyles, both blown out by the wind!
The dark-crowned blue jay has a slenderer beak, more slender legs, and a more pronounced crown than the crowned blue jay. Their beaks are straight, strong and slightly croupled. The forehead is dark brown with dark blue stripes. The shoulders and thorax are silvery grey, the primary flight feathers and tail feathers are dark blue with black stripes, and the abdomen is dark blue.
Large regional differences are shown within the distribution. The head of the dark-crowned blue crow in the north is dark brown, while the dark-crowned blue crow in the south tends to be dark blue in color. In southern Mexico, 1/9 of the dark-crowned blue jays have a black crown, while the rest of the crowned blue crows have a blue crown.
distribution
The Dark-crowned Blue Jay is found in western North America, north to Alaska, south to Central America, and east to southwest Texas, where there is little life for the crested blue jay. They generally live in fixed locations, but migrate to lower elevations in winter.
It is commonly found in coniferous and mixed forests, but does not prefer overly dense forests and spends most of its time in the upper layers of forests. Sometimes they go to the surface to survey visitors and forage for food.
It is commonly found at altitudes of 900-3000 meters. In the southwestern United States and Mexico, they live in woodlands made up of pine and oak trees.
Spatial memory is extremely strong
Omnivores, including a variety of nuts, seeds, berries, a variety of invertebrates, eggs, small rodents and chicks, and even carrion. Occasionally, it also kills small adult birds, such as the gray-blue lantern bunting. They will steal eggs and chicks from a variety of birds. Sometimes some reptiles are also preyed upon.
At a time, they will hold several acorns or pine nuts in their mouths, and then bury them one by one in the ground or hide them in tree holes to store food for later consumption in winter.
They are highly spatially remembered, can clearly remember where they are storing, and sometimes sneak into the feeding stations of the California star crow Nucifragacolumbiana and other North American jays. They often steal food from other birds or look carefully for food that people give them.
Investigate before acting
Bold, curious, intelligent, playful, and noisy by nature. It appeared in the American drama "The Big Bang Theory", and Xie Er was frightened and complained about this naughty and bold bird fruitlessly. They are always active in the high canopy when "scouting" in the forest. The wings are wide and plump, the flight posture is lazy and graceful, and the wings are slowly flapped when flying.
Foraging for food on the ground, long legs pulsating and flexible. On the ground and branches, they will jump around with two long, powerful legs, and will often stop, suddenly cocking their heads to observe the surrounding environment.
It is highly socialized, often acting collectively, generally assembling into small groups of more than 10 individuals. They often chase and play with each other, are very sensitive to events around them, and often organize aggressive behavior to drive away predators and dangerous invaders.
Imitation of the sound master
The common chirp is a continuous "SHACK-Sheck", and the sound of an old-fashioned water pump is "skreeka!" skreeka！ It's also common, and they also make soft, breathless "whoosh" whistles, while alarm calls are rough, harsh "wow" sounds.
When approaching the feeding area, they imitate the chirping of red-tailed eagles and buteo lineatus, and other birds will fly away in fright when they hear this call, at which point the dark-crowned blue crow can enjoy a unique meal in the feeding area.
Some of their calls vary by sex, with females often making cackling sounds, while males often make high-pitched "clucking" sounds. Their ability to imitate is excellent, not only the chirping of wild birds, but also the sounds of squirrels, cats, dogs, chickens, and some mechanical sounds.
The dark-crowned blue crow, so high iq, beautiful appearance, is really a bird that cultivates both inside and outside.
Grow and reproduce
The dark-crowned blue jay lays eggs once a year, laying 2-6 eggs per clutch, the eggs are oval in shape, the surface is relatively smooth, white or pale green, with tan or olive spots, and the eggs are hatched by the female for 16-18 days. Dark-crowned blue jay companions choose their nesting sites together, usually in coniferous forests, but sometimes in tree holes.
They build their nests on horizontal branches close to the trunk, often close to the top of the tree. Their nests are similar in structure to the nests of the crowned blue jay, but are larger.
Together, they collect nest timber, which includes a variety of natural materials such as rhizomes, branches and mosses, as well as waste, and is bonded with soft mud, and the inside of the nest is padded with needles, soft small roots and hairs.
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