This is bird note.

Here this bird, it's a j, and it's blue.

But this is a stellar jay, not a true blue jay with a capital B.

The bona fide blue jay is primarily a bird of the east, or east of the Rocky Mountains at least.

Of the many Jays in the U.S., these are the only two that sport crests.

These Jays have similar personalities.

Both are raucous and have a bit of a reputation for being bad boys.

Nineteenth-century zoologist Thomas Nuttall

wrote of the Stellars J that they are as watchful as dogs

and that they come round, follow, peep at and scold you.

And Mark Twain said, the Blue Jay

hasn't any more principal than an ex-congressman, and he will steal, deceive, and betray four times out of five.

Like their larger cousins, the crows and ravens and magpies, Blue Jays and Stellars Jays are intelligent opportunists.

They've adapted to living near people,

and they are the masters of the backyard bird feeder.

Both have good memories,

and they are not shy about asking for a handout.

Compare photos of these two birds,

and hear them again at our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Michael Stein.