Replying to Avatar GryphθΔ

He had personality. He always flew near the cabin, screeched an alarm call, waited a few minutes, then flapped to the food dish, usually giving another "I found food" call afterwards.

His crest mirrored his excitement. He had *opinions*. He always ate the walnuts first, then the pecans, then the peanuts. He wasn't very skittish, letting us get very close. Sometimes he would land right next to me, yell at me, then fly away when the food bowl was empty.

Here in the third photo, you can see just how much he wants those pecans, he's got two of them in his beak at once! A corvid (and some other species) behavior I call "stacking"

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GryphθΔ 2y ago

After a while, he was always around. Visiting us a few times a day, and always making a ruckus when he did. Soon, a second Steller's Jay showed up, which I dubbed Blue Gal.

I believe her to be the mated partner of Blue Guy. She had a beak injury which made it hard for her to eat, and Blue Guy always shoved her out of the way of the food dish if she was eating too slowly. I made sure to always leave enough for her to eat. She was more skittish, and never cresty, always cautious and alert, eating and leaving quickly, silently.

Here you can see Blue Gal, then Blue Guy realizing Blue Gal was eating without him and barging in. Guess what nut he picked after looking into the food bowl? That's right, it was a walnut.

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GryphθΔ 2y ago

Getting to watch these birds closely taught me so much about how extremely intelligent corvids can be. Blue Guy would stash the walnuts nearby, and I'd often see him come back and snack on them.

The mated pair would scavenge for worms in the dirt near me as I did my work on a laptop outside on a patio. I truly loved these two birds, and would have done anything for them. I watched them solve problems, have relationship arguments, bicker and beak, and most intimate of all, fly together.

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