By Tony Gazso, Interpretive Naturalist

Bird names. Sometimes they’re good descriptors of what a bird looks like (black-and-white warbler), other times they can describe a bird’s behavior (woodpecker). Regardless of what a bird’s name is, sometimes a colloquial name takes hold. The best example of this is “seagull.” As mentioned in a previous post, there’s actually no such bird as a seagull, but that general term is so widespread that the public doesn't know it isn't correct. There’s another good example–the “blue jay.” This, however, is a colloquial name that we are not likely to know exists. That's because there is only one jay species here in Ohio. That loud, brash, blue-crested bird in our backyards is a blue jay–that’s its species name. But it’s not the only jay that is blue, nor is it the only jay referred to as a blue jay. So how many blue jays are there?

Blue jay

A recent trip to California brought me into the range of a number of jay species, one of which was the California scrub-jay. Like their eastern cousins, they’re loud, brash and assertive–and bright blue. It was during this trip that I became aware that blue jay is often used in much the same way as the term seagull. Locals referred to the California scrub-jay simply as a blue jay. As a descriptor, it’s perfect. They are, after all, jays that are blue. Ok, so there’s two “blue jays,” no big deal right? Not too confusing since neither bird overlaps in range. But wait, there are actually three different species of scrub-jay in the west–all of which are blue. And in the mountains, there’s another blue crested jay subject to the blue jay colloquialism–the Steller’s jay. In fact, there are ten species of jay that can be found in the U.S., and only one of them isn’t at least partially blue! It seems “blue jay” is a lot more like “seagull” than we first thought, at least in regions where there are numerous jay species. 

California scrub-jay

The term blue jay seems to hit that sweet spot between being simple, easy to remember, and perfectly descriptive. It’s also a name that fits well in the public conscience. So when people see a jay, and it happens to be blue (like nearly every jay species is), it makes sense the name would become a colloquial term for any species of blue-colored jay. So how many blue jays are there? Depends on how you count I suppose, but there’s only one whose actual name is blue jay, and it’s the one that makes its home right here in Ohio!

Steller's jay