Steller's jay

American  

[stel-erz] / ˈstɛl ərz /

noun

1. a common jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, of western North America, having blackish-brown and dusky-blue plumage.

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Etymology

Origin of Steller's jay

1820–30, after George W. Steller (1709–46), German naturalist

Example Sentences

Today, it showed, he had spotted a Steller’s jay and a crow.

From Washington Post • Nov. 27, 2021

Perhaps a big Steller’s jay hears a chickadee’s frantic alarm in the face of a little pygmy owl and says, in effect, “‘I’m not worried,’ ” Dr.. Greene said.

From New York Times • May 18, 2015

On a brilliant winter afternoon, knee-deep snow covers the intake pond behind a small concrete dam, and a Steller's jay swoops among the evergreens.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lastly, down with a swoop came a Steller's jay out of a fir-tree, probably with the intention of moistening his noisy throat.

From The Mountains of California by Muir, John