Cyanocitta stelleri or in other words the Steller's Jay. Recently we have had a pair of Steller's out on our porch eating the leftovers and bird seed we leave out for the birds. The pair seems to have taken over the area and will basically chase the other birds away so they can have a private romantic meal together. One of the birds has a couple white feathers around the left eye, who I affectionately call, you ready... White Eye. (I like to be creative, similar to many of the other great scientists who named such creatures as the green snake, and the thirteen-lined ground squirrel) Many people find these birds to be very annoying but that is only because Steller's Jays, being in the Corvide family, are smarter than many of those people. This little video shows how smart a crow, (also in the Corvide family) really is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Z6Mvjd9w0
Along with being super smart these birds are also incredible mimics. Probably not as good as the lyre bird(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y), but they are still able to mimic several things including other birds, cats, dogs, people and mechanical objects. I am hoping to someday teach White Eye to say "I must find a more suitable host body!" as he flies through the forest or chowing down at somebodies bird feeder.
