Yes, these are the same Blue Jays that are resident in North
Carolina. Blue Jays (or as people in the western U.S. often call them
"Easter Blue Jays") are not resident everywhere. They are extremely common
residents of the eastern United States but they are rare in the Western U.S.
The western border of their range is about the middle of Oklahoma, Kansas,
Nebraska, and the Dakotas (and whatever Canadian Province that is north of
the Dakotas). Their range doesn't overlap that of the Black-billed Magpie
or Stellar's Jay. They may be expanding their range westward but seemingly,
only in the winter as far as I know. They are still considered a rare bird
in most of the Pacific Northwest (and other parts of the West), even though
they have become rather regular winter visitors in some places.

At 21:01 8/10/97 -0400, Ayrielle wrote:
>I'm hoping the Blue Jays you mention are the same ones I'm about to refer
>to. Here in North Carolina, we have them as residents, and I might add,
>while they are a very pretty bird, they are a nuisance at times. They are
>very verbal when they take a notion and can be aggressive to the smaller
>birds in my yard. They use the feeders with mixed seed and sunflower and
>waste alot kicking seed out hunting for the one seed that suites their
>fancy. We even get our share of bald Blue Jays as well. I'm told it's a
>sign of mites ect...I thought Blue Jays were resident everywhere, guess not.


Deb Beutler
Department of Zoology
P.O. Box 644236
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu