Stellar's Jay (1 Viewer)

[WAFats]

I made the mistake of feeding a Stellar's Jay from a sliding a door near my desk. Now he shows up every day if my blinds are open, and he pecks on the glass to get my attention if I don't notice him.

How can I determine the sex of a Stellar's?

Video removed because I posted in the wrong forum...

 

[Larry Lade]

Stellar's Jays are said to be monomorphic. This is, the male and female can not be told apart by their outward appearance.

*Birds which are easily told apart by their plumage, size, etc. are termed dimorphic.

 

[MJB]

There's a very good summary on Wikipedia about Georg Wilhelm Steller, whose name is associated with quite a number of mammals and birds. I think he deserves to be better known.
MJB

 

[fugl]

As Larry says Steller's Jays are monomorphic, so the sexes can't be told apart by appearance. Some of the calls are different, however. The female, in particular, has a harsh rattling call--a series of mechanical clicks which the male never makes & which is very distinctive. You'll know it if you hear it & if you do hear it you've definitely got a female. Unfortunately, the females don't rattle much unless there are other jays about, so if only the one bird's coming into your yard it might not make the call even if it is female.

The male is said to have a call of its own also--a "creaking whistle" though I'm not as familiar with that as with the female rattle.

Steller's Jays are entertaining birds. I almost never get them in my backyard (unfortunately) though I see them regularly elsewhere around town. I get Western Scrub-jays instead which, like your Steller's will "come & get me" by tapping on the window when they want food. The female scrub-jay has a rattle call very like the Steller's, which I hear most days when the small flocks come in & start quarreling over peanuts.