Another thing about Gray Jays, they store fat. The Sahaptin Indian name
for the Gray Jay is, in fact, ya'pash pat'ahla', which means 'fat
lover'. Steller's Jay is Xwa'shXway, obviously onomatopoeic.

Gene Hunn.

On Tue, 26 Sep 1995, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> Mike Smith wrote:
>
> >Steller's and Gray Jays: Gray Jays inhabit high elevation conifer
> >forests, Steller's Jays seem to be everywhere, though. My experience
> >(and BBA data also) show Steller's Jays occurring from sea level (like
> >here in Seattle) up to timberline. Confirmed nesting records are known
> >from all over Mt. Rainier, and probable nesting records from every roaded
> >mountain pass in the Cascades. Personally, I've seen them in fairly high
> >spots such as Stevens Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, 49 Degrees North, and
> >Whistler. Yet most printed accounts consider them to be a low-elevation
> >species. What is it about them that allows them to succeed at high
> >elevations where Gray Jays predominate?
>
> I agree they are common right up to timberline, at least where trees are
> dense enough to form a forest. I don't know how they avoid competition
> with Gray Jays, or if they do so. Most corvids seem to be such generalists
> that it's hard to imagine how they could specialize to utilize different
> prey or different foraging techniques. The very different bills of Gray
> and Steller's jays, however, would be interesting to contemplate in terms
> of foraging techniques. Steller's (broader niche?) do well in the drier
> conifer forests that lack Gray Jays, and Gray Jays (better cachers?) exist
> way to the north of Steller's. Steller's is obviously more successful at
> existing in habitats altered by humans, perhaps because they utilize
> feeders. Why don't Gray Jays do that more? If you go very much south from
> Washington, eventually Steller's Jay is the only mountain conifer jay, of
> course.
>
> >Clark's Nutcracker. Their high-elevation reliance on whitebark pine is
> >very well documented. But how have they adapted so they can exist in
> >ponderosa pine forests in eastern Washington?
>
> Of course, here is that unusual corvid, the specialist. I'm not surprised
> that they can also use ponderosa pine seeds, with their heavy corvid bill,
> and there probably aren't any conifer cones with similarly large seeds
> between the ranges of these two pines or they'd have nutcrackers cracking
> them too. Nutcrackers use other pines too, for example pinyon.
>
> Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
> Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
> University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
> Tacoma, WA 98416
>
>
>