Blue Jay
high confidenceCyanocitta cristata
A crested, blue-backed songbird perched on a shepherd's-hook feeder pole. Diagnostic features include the pointed blue crest, black necklace-like collar across the throat, pale grayish-white underparts, and boldly barred blue-and-black wings and tail with white wing patches / white-tipped tail feathers all classic Blue Jay markings. (A decorative red metal bird silhouette tops the pole, but the live subject is unmistakably a Blue Jay.)
Other possibilities:
- Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) — Also a crested blue jay, but it has a dark sooty head and lacks the white underparts and black necklace seen here; ranges western North America.
- Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) — Blue and gray coloration, but lacks a crest and the black-and-white wing barring.
2026-08-23