Pinyon Jay - Andrew Boycott
Report

Contributor

Date

Location

West Vancouver — Pinyon Jay Stakeout (2023)
Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 49.333357, -123.163145
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

Finally! After two drives to West Van and nearly 8 hours birding, I respotted this bird on top of a tree at 49.335022,-123.167381 with Paul Preston. We watched the bird there for some time as we tried to get the attention of the many other birders searching in the area. It spent quite some time atop a tree that had the top removed at 49.335459,-123.167519 before joining a small flock of Steller's Jays in the trees immediately south of this location, near a feeder. A number of us watched them there for some time before they crossed the street to another feeder at 49.334492,-123.167756. Lifer! Beautiful bird, the light I got on my photos does not do it justice. Really quite vibrant sapphire colour particularly on the cheek and neck of the bird, and the top of it's tail feathers. The rest of the body was significantly more drab, particularly the belly and wings being a near grey, with a bit of a blue tinge, and also showing a stark white chin below it's black beak. The beak was slightly decurved and much more pointed than that of a Steller's Jay. Lacking the distinct crest we are so used to seeing on a Steller's Jay as well, and showing no black other than the beak and legs. Quite interesting to watch the behaviour of this bird compared to the group of Steller's Jays it was associating with. This bird was much less energetic, and seemed less hungry than STJAs, it tended to either sit at the tip of trees for quite some time, dive down to the ground/feeders to stay for a while, or hide in the thick of branches, whereas the STJA were actively moving around the branches of trees at all times, feeding more regularly and actively. The STJA were also vocalising regularly when the PIJA did not vocalise a single time. Photos to be attached.

Technical information

Model
ILCE-7RM4
Lens
FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
ISO
2500
Focal length
600 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire
f-stop
f/6.3
Shutter speed
1/1000 sec
Dimensions
964 pixels x 626 pixels
Original file size
107.76 KB