 Steller's Jays are the smallest and most brightly coloured of the corvids that are found here. Despite the fact that this species breeds nearby we have no records of this species from our property from May to mid August and the largest number of records come from the period September to December. Even within that period however there are marked differences in the numbers seen from one year to the next, with some years having almost no records and others having daily occurrences.  Figure 1. Records of Steller's Jays, American Crows and Common Ravens from Leaning Oaks showing distribution throughout the year.  Figure 2. Distribution of Steller's Jays at Leaning Oaks showing a peak in observations in fall and early winter and no records from May to early August.
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 We have three species of Corvids, or members of the crow family here at Leaning Oaks. The commonest are Common Ravens, the least frequently seen are Steller’s Jays and in between are American Crows. Our crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) were formerly considered a separate species, the Northwestern Crow but now the birds here are now relegated to subspecies (Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus) status because of substantial genetic exchange with the birds of the interior. Here at Leaning Oaks they are present throughout the year, but almost always in small numbers. Based on Christmas Bird Count data crow numbers in British Columbia and on southern Vancouver Island show a long term decline.
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AuthorsTwo biologists on a beautiful property armed with cameras, smart phones and a marginal knowledge of websites took up the challenge of documenting one species a day on that property. Join along! Posts and photographs by Leah Ramsay and David Fraser (unless otherwise stated); started January 1, 2014. Categories
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