Howard Faxon
This guy is Aphelocoma californica. The common name is the California Scrub-Jay. They are in the family Corvidae. There are some 40 species of the Corvus genus – including ravens, crows, and rooks. Along the Pacific seaboard from Washington state to Baja California this is the “blue jay” that is a fixture in backyards. Their behavior is similar to other Corvids. They are much like small and colorful crows. You will often find them high in the trees being lookouts when not foraging on the ground.
This film has been edited to include a repeat in very slow motion. After that I put in a section in reverse at a slightly faster slow motion. (The reverse segment is just for fun.) Then the film ends with a repeat of the full speed footage making a roughly two minute film. In the slow motion section I believe that you can see the bird separate the stinger from the insect before eating it. These birds have a reputation for being intelligent so perhaps it is doing that deliberately; and, from experience. I found the slow motion film segment to be revealing because the bird’s activity is so frenetic that it is hard to see what’s happening. As subjects they are difficult to photograph and film because they move around constantly and quickly. This is my first film from my scrub jay footage. I didn’t use any spectacular equipment and this is a hand-held film. For me this was a rare catch and worth sharing. I hope you enjoy seeing it.
©2019 – Howard Faxon
Wow, that was wonderful to watch.
I enjoyed the video, and the text is very informative
Thanks so very much – I’m glad you stopped in.
Thanks for viewing !
Wow ! one amazing video. I love bird watching.
Thanks very much. I have been documenting all the things that live in and/or visit my yard. This was a piece of luck.
I do have more also – you’ll see them.
Amazing!! What a great video, and yes, seems the bird separates de stinger. I had heard about corvids intelligence before, so I agree with you. Another thing is, here in Spain we don’t have such colourful birds, it’s so nice!
Thanks for watching and thank you for your kind words. These are the most colorful ones here that visit my yard. I’m glad you stopped in.
Thank you very much for this incredible video of excellent quality!!! So super to watch birds’ behavior!!!
Thank you for watching.
I had never seen this before and it is also the first time I’ve seen them in slow motion. I’m glad that people are interested – I wasn’t sure if I should publish it.
I was going to ask if it removed the stinger first thing, but it seems like you also saw that…
I never noticed that until editing the slow footage. It does look like the bird rips it off and drops it.
I thought I saw it right off the bat and then started wondering if I made that up, but you saw it, too…
I loved this. I want to see more. And thanks so much for being here.
Thanks so much. 🙂
There probably will be more wildlife things – I have YouTube to park things and the embed feature here is great for viewing without leaving the site. (I’m slowly working through deer footage right now.) Cheers!
I see this bird for the first time. Unique shooting. Thanks for the info on blue soy.
Thanks so much.
I was out to take pictures of hummingbirds and luckily saw this. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing it.
That is fantastic, I have never seen this bird in motion and this was very special
This is the only time I saw one smooshing a bee around and I was holding my camera. They were year round residents. Where I live now there are Stellar’s Jays which are very illusive to my camera so far.
Cheers!
That’s great when that happens!
WOW! This is incredible. I did not realize he was separating the stinger. They are so intelligent and beautiful. We have blue jays here, never seen the scrub jay.
Thanks so much Carol. I was hoping it would be interesting. These birds are on the west coast mostly. Here I have Stellar’s Jays now. I should post a picture of them. I have maybe two so far. They’re tough to catch well.
Great video , Thank you for sharing
Thanks, I hoped it was interesting to not only me. Cheers!
Oh, another deer video is on the way.
Very cool video. I would imagine that the scrub jay instinctively knows that it must get rid of the stinger before eating the bee.
I wonder if it is instinct. That’s entirely possible. This is the only time I saw this happen and I had my camera – it was a lucky moment.
In the summer these birds ate a lot of insects in my yard which I didn’t mind but the bees I’m not so happy about. Cheers.
Never give up!
Great video, I love the slow-mo. It is always cool to watch stuff like that slowed way down.
And when there is 20 seconds of footage the slow motion helps as well I guess. Hey guys, here’s a twenty second flick … don’t blink or you might miss it.
Thanks.
That is why, beyond that fact that I can’t draw nor put colors together at all, is why i am not a visual artist.
I am easily distracted!