Who You Callin' Blue?

Day 40: Although this bird is a blue jay, it is not a Bluejay. It's a Steller's Jay, and it's not blue. Neither is a Bluejay, for that matter. The colour blue only occurs in birds as a refraction of light through the cellular structure of their feathers. It makes them appear blue to human eyes, but in fact, no birds' feathers truly carry blue pigment. Turacos come close with a unique copper-based green pigmentation not found in any other species, but Bluejays, Bluebirds, Blue Tits, Blue Grosbeaks, Blue Herons, Lazuli Buntings, Indigo Buntings and other "blue" birds are actually brown. I find that this explanation is frequently met with skepticism or outright disbelief whenever I present it, proving that people believe what they want to believe whether it goes against the science or not. Some will come around after they do a little research. Others will remain forever obstinate, insistent that Santa Claus, UFOs and blue birds are real.

LBJ

Day 100: You'll probably never hear a birder refer to a Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) as an "LBJ," the birding parlance for "little brown job," although that's an accurate description of the colour if not the size. Yep, you heard right: Steller's Jays are brown. For that matter, so are Blue Jays, Bluebirds, Lazuli Buntings or any of the other birds we perceive as blue. The fact is that blue pigmentation does not exist in birds, but feathers may appear blue as a product of structural colouration, i.e., the way the feather reflects light. This phenomenon is more readily apparent in hummingbirds. When viewed at one angle, the males' heads or throat patches may appear bright red, but at a slightly different angle, may look dark or black. This change is due to the way light waves interact with microscopic layers within the feather structure. Some wavelengths pass through the feather and others are reflected back to the observer's eye. This same principle causes Steller's Jay to look blue to us.

Thrush Feather Study

Day 149: Today's post is being brought to you by angry birds. No, not "Angry Birds" (capital letters, referring to the game), but enormously cranky, territorial, aggressive, maybe even downright vicious Varied Thrushes. I've been rather concerned for the Thrush population in my yard after finding evidence which seemed to point toward a predator with a particular taste for Thrush. I don't know why I didn't catch on sooner to the true reason I was finding little pockets of Thrush feathers in the snow. I've certainly seen them attack one another often enough. Today it dawned on me: preceding the actual aggressive run, one or both competitors goes breast-to-the-ground as insults are exchanged. "Your mama was a robin!" "Was not! You're a chicken...chicken-chicken-chicken!" Then the dash commences, one bird running to, the other (the smarter one, I suspect) running from. Sometimes the pause before the salute of swords lasts up to ten seconds, plenty of time for soft, warm breast feathers to freeze to the snow. Given the abundance of the resource, microscopy was a given, resulting in the interesting discovery that the downier sections near the shaft are marked with knot-like, dark nodes (lower right). This fluffy portion insulates the angry bird's chest against the icy snow.