Cotman watercolours tubes, Faber Castel Pastel pencils on Saunders Waterford 300gsm 310×230 Cotton Satiné High White paper

This bird had been on my wish list to paint for a while, the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). In the Netherlands we have the (Flemish) Jay (Garrulus glandarius). Also beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as this species. The blue jay clearly bears its name for a reason. It has beautiful (lavender) blue feathers on the head and back. The feathers on the abdomen are off-white. Around the neck he also has a black collar.

The blue jay occurs in 4 variants in much of the eastern half of the United States. Especially in mixed forests, but also in parks and gardens.

The diet varied. For example, acorns, seeds, berries, peanuts and bread, but also meat, eggs and small invertebrates are eaten.

The blue jay, like our own jay, belongs to the crow family. Like Magpies, they seem to have a great interest in everything that is shiny. They collect little shiny things and keep them in their nest. Although they may look nice with those beautiful blue hours, they are very aggressive towards other bird species that come near their nest.

They make a range of specific sound calls, with which they communicate with each other. They seem to be able to imitate the sound of birds of prey and even some human sounds!

Reference photo: I found a nice photo on Pixabay where the beautiful blue feathers were clearly visible. The name of the photographer there is PublicDomainImages.

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