Subject: Bird ID?
Date: Sep 30 21:30:44 1999
From: Jim Brewster - BrewinKent at msn.com


Hello Tweeters:

I'm very much a novice birder and on Monday evening I saw "Jay" type of bird
in my apartment complex that I couldn't identify. If someone could offer
some help I would appreciate it.

I first saw the bird silhouetted in a tree near sundown and thought it was a
Robin. At about 60 feet with binoculars I couldn't distinguish color
because of the lighting conditions, but was aware of the bird's long pointed
(not sharp) bill. Then the bird flew to a patch of Himalaya berries that
are growing over a neighbor's fence, and began feeding. I walked toward the
berry patch and could see the bird's rump protruding from the vines, and
from that view it looked to me like a Steller's Jay because of the relative
size and the dark blue color of the portion of the back and tail feathers
that I could see. The tail feathers were "square", that is straight across
the ends as opposed to being rounded. Then the bird turned around and
perched on a fence and I had a good side/frontal view from about 25 feet.
It saw me very clearly and remained perched there for 2 or 3 minutes. The
head lacked a crest, and the upper body and wings were a dark blue, though
not as dark as a Steller's Jay. The breast was a light gray, and there was
a distinct line of demarcation between the gray breast and blue upper
portions, that is, the colors didn't flow or blend together. I don't find
anything like this bird in "Birds of Seattle", and am very sure that it was
not a Gray Jay, which I have seen before and are colored differently. The
only other 'book' reference I have is the "Field Guide to North American
Birds" and the closest thing there to what I saw is the Gray-breasted Jay,
though this is not an area that has them. Also, the picture of the
Gray-breasted Jay doesn't have the definitive separation of back and breast
colors that I noticed.

Any ideas? My computer has been on the fritz since Monday morning, so
that's why it's taken so long to report this. I have watched for this bird
since then, but haven't seen it.

Jim Brewster
Kent Washington
BrewinKent at msn.com