Crow-sized blue jay? (1 Viewer)

[Hoke]

Hi Folks.

I'm new to this site. I live in eastern San Diego County, CA., in a semi-rural area. A short while ago, the strangest bird I've ever seen around here landed in a tree in my yard, and I'm hoping you can help me ID it. I don't think it's a native...

This bird looks almost exactly like a blue jay: Black head with crest, bright blue wings and back, whitish underside. But it's HUGE. Its body is about the size of a crow's, and its tail is about a foot long; the whole bird appears to be just under two feet long. The tail is also blue on top, white on the bottom, long and narrow like a roadrunner's.

The bird makes several different sounds, but they are all loud, shrill and raspy. Much louder than the scrub jays that live here, or any other bird in the area, for that matter.

I saw this same bird once before, a couple of weeks ago. It stays up high in the trees and seems to be shy. It wouldn't let me get close enough to get a good picture. Can anyone tell me what kind of bird this is? Thanks!

-Hoke

 

[erizzo]

Hi welcome to birdforum. But sorry I can't help you with that but I think it must be a bird that came up from Mexico.
I bet other members will be abel to help you better.

 

[erizzo]

Could it be a Magpie Jay?

 

[Katy Penland]

Could it be a Magpie Jay?

I wondered that, too, since the description sure doesn't fit any NA jays. I attached below a scan of jays from my Birds of Costa Rica book, thinking that the white-throated magpie-jay fits Hoke's description. This is an 18" bird, which is certainly into crow-size territory.

Wow, what a find if so!!!!

Edit: Oops, forgot to say that the WTMJ is the biggest blue jay shown.
2nd oops: I just realized that Hoke said "black head." My book doesn't show the NW Mexico race "black-throated magpie-jay," so this was probably of no help at all.

 

[BirdsPeru]

sounds like a Black-throated magpie-jay. The size of this bird is between 22 and 31 inches including tail. It has a black face with crest and it is mostly blue on the upper side and white on the underside.

this is the only bird that can be close to the description and the location where you live.

There is a picture in this link that maybe can help you: http://www.centralfloridazoo.org/animals/Black-throated_magpie_jay.htm

Alejandro

 

[Dave B Smith]

Hoke,
I agree with Erizzo and others, sounds like one of our Mexican birds, and yes, we want him back!

The suggestion of Black-throated Magpie-Jay sounds right on with your description. That is a Mexican bird endemic to Northwest Mexico and shouldn't be any further north than southern Sonora.

 

[Katy Penland]

Hey, Hoke, you might want to let the California Bird Records Committee know about your sighting. They are (as are all bird records committees) very interested in any out-of-range birds.

 

[streatham]

Hi Hoke,

Just as a clarification even a Blue Jay would be a turn up in California. I just found a site with some info on BT Magpie Jays that also had a link to something saying escaped birds of San Diego county (however when you follow the link nothing related appears - it's on the bottom right hand side of the page). I should imagine that your bird is probably an escapee from a zoo private collection etc - here's the link: http://www.whozoo.org/Intro2002/ChrisYork/CEY_MagpieJay.htm

Luke

 

[streatham]

Hi again,

Andthis seems to be confirmation here's a rare bird alert mentioning the species: http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/realbirds/rbas/CASD031024.html

apparently escaped breeding birds.

Luke

 

[Hoke]

Hi Hoke,

Just as a clarification even a Blue Jay would be a turn up in California. I just found a site with some info on BT Magpie Jays that also had a link to something saying escaped birds of San Diego county (however when you follow the link nothing related appears - it's on the bottom right hand side of the page). I should imagine that your bird is probably an escapee from a zoo private collection etc - here's the link: http://www.whozoo.org/Intro2002/ChrisYork/CEY_MagpieJay.htm

Luke

YES! That's exactly what it is. It's a black-throated magpie jay, no question about it. I agree that it's probably an escapee, since there's only one (that I know of). That's too bad, as I wouldn't mind having a few of these magnificent birds around all the time. Thank you folks for sharing your expertise.

-Hoke

 

[streatham]

Hi Hoke,

The birds look great from the pics a nice spot i'm sure. From the Rare Bird Alert it would seem that these escapees are starting to breed - so who knows it's possible that you may have a situation like we have with the monk parakeets in a few years where they establish themselves as a viable breeding population.

Luke

 

[Hoke]

Hi Hoke,

The birds look great from the pics a nice spot i'm sure. From the Rare Bird Alert it would seem that these escapees are starting to breed - so who knows it's possible that you may have a situation like we have with the monk parakeets in a few years where they establish themselves as a viable breeding population.

Luke

Luke,

That would be great! San Diego has wild breeding populations of "imported" macaws and other parrots, but they stay near the coast, not inland where I live. I've been trying to "tropicalize" my yard for the past year or so, with bamboo plantings and other features; a group of these magpie jays would complement the picture nicely.

"My" magpie jay is back this morning. I keep a large bird feeder stocked with dry dog food for the scrub jays (helps keep them from hogging all the bird seed from the smaller birds' feeder). The magpie is trying to get at it, but he's too big to get a good hold on the perch. I just might be able to lure him into position for a good picture. I'll keep you posted.

-Hoke

 

[streatham]

Hi Hoke,

I'm trying to get my garden as bird friendly as possible at the moment too - good luck with trying to lure the Jay in for a pic - it'd be good to see them if you get some.

Luke

 

[gthang]

I wondered that, too, since the description sure doesn't fit any NA jays. I attached below a scan of jays from my Birds of Costa Rica book, thinking that the white-throated magpie-jay fits Hoke's description. This is an 18" bird, which is certainly into crow-size territory.

Wow, what a find if so!!!!

Edit: Oops, forgot to say that the WTMJ is the biggest blue jay shown.
2nd oops: I just realized that Hoke said "black head." My book doesn't show the NW Mexico race "black-throated magpie-jay," so this was probably of no help at all.

Hey Katy it appears we have the same Costa Rica bird guide... Stiles & Skutch, right?

Yep, we certainly do have the same book. THe WTMJ is indeed a big bird, but not as big as some other birds (mainly raptors and ostrich-like birds). I didn't realize how big a Belted Kingfisher was until I actually saw one. They're slightly smaller than a crow! The Ringed Kingfisher is the biggest in USA, and it's just one inch shy of being crow-sized.

Again, i'll agree with those who said magpie jay. On the other hand, I do have a Mexican guide...

There's another Jay that looks similar but is only 11inches long. THe white-throated Jay (or Omilteme jay)

EDIT to KATY: My mexico book shows the Black-throated form of the Magpie-Jay. but the BTMJ is OVER 2feet long. Since the BTMJ ranges from Southern Sonora to Jalisco, I wouldn't rule out the possibilty, but since the WTMJ is a bird living South of Colima, it's kind of hard to determine if this is really a WTMJ. Might also be an escapee.

 

[BirdsPeru]

Gthang,

One thing that can rule out the WTMJ is that in the original post Hoke mention that the bird has a Black head and crest and the WTMJ has a white face. The only bird with black head and crest and crow size near that range is the BTMJ.

Alejandro

 

[gthang]

BirdsPeru, Yeah, I realize your point, but when Hoke mentioned it looked almost exactly like a Blue Jay, I agreed with Katy, since the WTMJ had a black collar a la the Blue Jay. Even though Hoke is a newbie, he might have been better off saying that it looked almost exactly like a Steller's Jay.

 

[Hoke]

BirdsPeru, Yeah, I realize your point, but when Hoke mentioned it looked almost exactly like a Blue Jay, I agreed with Katy, since the WTMJ had a black collar a la the Blue Jay. Even though Hoke is a newbie, he might have been better off saying that it looked almost exactly like a Steller's Jay.

As someone entirely unfamiliar with the subtle color and pattern differences between different species of jays, I don't have the slightest clue what a Steller's jay looks like. Aside from the BTMJ you folks identified for me, the only other jays I've ever seen are the blue jays that live around the scrub brush and oaks here in southern CA. We also call them scrub jays, but usually just "blue jays".

But now that you mention it...I looked again, more discerningly, and these "scrub jays" don't have black heads, as I'd thought. They have blue heads, black "collars" that don't seem to go all the way around the neck, no crest on top of head, and white throats. So technically my description was contradictory, hence the opposing IDs. Half of you tuned in on "looks almost exactly like a Blue Jay" and the others focused on the actual description. My bad.

Anyway, to me, the BTMJ still looks almost exactly like a blue jay. It's blue, has feathers and flies. ;-)

Thanks again for your assistance.

-Hoke

 

[Katy Penland]

Anyway, to me, the BTMJ still looks almost exactly like a blue jay. It's blue, has feathers and flies. ;-)

LOL! And you've totally exemplified another thread here at BF where the merits of capitalizing or not capitalizing birds' common names was discussed. Here in AZ we have three "blue jays" but none of them are *the* Blue Jay. At any rate, I'm glad you got your bird sorted out. Wish it'd fly over here, I'd love to see a BTMJ.

 

[bajamagpie]

i live in rosarito beach, baja mexico. several years ago there was 1 male btmj here for almost a year & another one showed up in early august of this year. they are absolutely beautiful. he really likes a fig bush about 40 feet in front of my house. whenever we hear his raucous cry, we run to the window or outside to get another view of him. i even named my online name after him. bajamagpie

 

[Katy Penland]

Hey, Bajamagpie,

Is the "Titanic" still there? I remember driving down to San Ignacio Lagoon the year before "Titanic" was released, and there was this HUGE cross-section of a ship being built in the marina there in Rosarito. Quite a sight to see from the highway!