Novasola Jay
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| Click image to enlarge |
Novasola Jay, Cyanocitta novasolensis L 30-35 cm, WS 45 cm, Family: Corvidae
Description:
Crested jay, roughly same size as a Steller’s Jay, with long tail, chunky bodies, and rounded wings. Blue upperparts, brightest in wings and tail, duller back. Wings and tail barred with thin black striping, white tail tip. Black head and breast, with lighter gray belly. Black crest with white cheek patch and interrupted eye ring conspicuous. Western populations darker, with blue underparts in place of gray. Bill is long and powerful.
Voice:
Raucous, harsh cries are most often heard, similar to the screams of blue jays, though it has displayed a variety of calls including chirps, caws, rattles, and a soft musical whistle. A talented mimic, Novasola Jays have been heard mimicking the sounds of other birds, commonly raptors, squirrels, snakes, horses, and even metal hammer clanking.
Range and Habitat:
Found throughout Novasola. A forest generalist, Novasola Jays can be found in conifer, deciduous, or mixed woods, as well as oak scrub. Also common in urban and suburban environments like parks and backyards. Tends to avoid higher altitudes and alpine regions, and is rare in more open terrain like the grasslands of the interior.
Discussion:
A
familiar voice and face of Novasola, the Novasola Jay makes its presence
known; the jay’s harsh cries are a staple of the island’s forest ecosystems. They
are common throughout most of Novasola’s wooded ecosystems, and they have
adapted well to human development. Not only are they the most numerous jay
overall, they are also the most common jays in urban and suburban areas.
Like
all corvids the Novasola Jay is notable for its intelligence and curiosity. Clever
and inquisitive, the Novasola Jay will often fly close to inspect a
disturbance, and its alarm calls are used as signals by other wildlife species.
It is well known among Novasolan birds for its fearlessness and determination
in the face of threats and in the search for food. A generalist, the jay will
feed on almost anything from seeds and nuts to insects, eggs, and carrion, even
hunting small birds and mammals, and it will defend a feed site or cache from
other birds aggressively. Food caching behavior has been observed often, though
the true extent of this behavior is still unknown. The jay’s excellent memory
allows it to relocate food stores with surprising accuracy. Novasola Jays
exploit any unattended food scraps and often steal food from unsuspecting
humans, and along with the White Jay is a common pest at campgrounds and picnic
areas for that reason, though most people are willing to put up with them.
A
social species, the Novasola Jay is most often seen in pairs or groups of four,
and in winter can be found in larger flocks of up to ten or twelve individuals
and can also be seen in mixed-species flocks. In mating, birds pair for life. Males
and females are indistinguishable in the field, and nest construction and incubation
are performed by both parents.
Novasola Jays are a well-studied bird, and many scientists and research projects use the
Novasola Jay as a subject species when investigating animal intelligence. Some
studies have shown that the jay is an adept problem solver and they have even
been recorded using simple tools, like using sticks to pry prey or food out of
reach. They are popular outside of research as well; the Novasola Jay is a
common motif in bird art and a frequent favorite of feeder enthusiasts for
their charisma, despite often being considered a menace to other birds and
park-going people alike.
The
scientific genus name Cyanocitta comes from the Greek words for “dark
blue” and “jay”, while the species name was given for its native range. Despite
its commonality, no one had described the jay scientifically until the NRC
expeditions, and most people before then simply referred to the bird as a Jay
or Blue Jay. Naturalist George York Baker collected specimens in 1780, but he was curiously never able to publish writings on them. Other naturalists often referenced the bird, though many assumed it to be a subspecies of the Steller's Jay or Blue Jay. Through a strange fate, Richard Reichwald became the first scientist to formally describe the bird in publication. The Novasola Jay is culturally significant to many indigenous nations, usually seen as a trickster character. The Novasola Jay’s
Cishtaklun name is iniqalgaq, possibly from roots meaning “sky/blue” and
“raven”.
The first writings to be re-translated into English from the German collection made multiple references to the Novasola Jay. Fitting, as this was the first Novasolan endemic bird referenced by Reichwald, initially mentioned in his personal diary the morning he arrived on the island. The Novasola Jay would also become the first bird he described officially during the NRC’s first expedition, the first entry in Native Birds of Novasola, and one of the birds most commonly referenced in Reichwald’s expedition logs.
“If ever there were Mischief embodied, we would have to look no further than the common Novasolan Jay. Familiar to any who occupy, indeed even visit for a short while, this green island, the Jay is as conspicuous as it is brilliant. A bird so splendiferous, one could be forgiven for assuming the same for the rest of its nature. However the Jay is a trickster in more ways than one. Its outward beauty disguises the Jay’s wickedness and villainy. Its harsh cries flood the forest as it thieves and connives. The Jay robs every nest it finds, and bullies its way to any food source by way of wit and mimicry; it imitates the cries of hawks with an accuracy that fools any bird so unlucky to stand between the Jay and its mark. It caches its food like a glutton, guarding those caches voraciously and with no forgiveness. Beware, a squirrel or snake must, of the ever-watchful Jay that they might wander too close its nest or stash, for soon that squirrel or snake will be eaten also.
Intelligent beyond merit, the Jay is n’er without resource, always finding new food sources and always deploying new stratagems to reach them. Coupled with an unparalleled boldness, the Jay is confident and all too willing to approach a stranger for a handout. A number of my companions have had their suppers stolen and their meat or bread carried off by a Jay.
But the Novasolan Jay is not without his own virtue. Playful and social, I have seen Jays engaged together in merriment, and I have seen them defend one another from assailants of all kinds. They take monogamous oaths from which they do not falter, and when together their raucous cacophony gives way to sweet warbles of soft, whispered babble. Both parents take equal share in rearing young. Perhaps unwittingly, the bird even aids Man in his sport. Novasolan Jays have specific alarms to call out large threats like deer or bear too close to the nest, and local hunters have taken to deciphering Jay calls to follow game.” - Native Birds of Novasola, 1912
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| Original Reichwald sketches, 1902 |
“Our first morning on the expedition, the entire Corps endeavored to celebrate at the campfire with a meal of beef and salmon. As I sat to eat my portion, a Novasolan Jay, blue and black as the dawn sky, descended from the trees above to find ground on the log beside me. It bounced to my tent, where it tugged at my boots’ laces until it was sufficiently satisfied they were not worms, and then flew off to pester someone else’s boots.” – Expedition log, April 9, 1902