Western Scrub Jay

There are three species of Scrub Jays in North America: the Florida Scrub Jay, the Island Scrub Jay, and the Western Scrub Jay. As the name implies, the Florida Scrub Jay is limited to the peninsula of Florida. The Island Scrub Jay is only found on Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands of California. The Western Scrub Jay is the most widely distributed of the three species with a range encompassing the arid and shrubby habitats of the west from Oregon and southern Washington through Baja California, the Rockies, and down into the mountains of Central Mexico. In fact their range and diversity is such that some biologists argue the species should be split out into three additional species, but that hasn’t happened, yet. In Colorado, where I’ve been spending the holidays, Western Scrub Jays are a frequent visitors the feeders behind my parents home in the foothills outside Denver.

For a color-starved Alaskan these flashy, iridescent-blue birds are a pleasure to see, and to photograph. For good size birds, they are flitty buggers and don’t often sit still for long. They seem to choose perches that are hidden back in the most dense parts of the tree. Finding the right opportunity to snap the shutter can be a long and frustrating process. These three images are the result of several efforts over a few days. All three are lit up with off-camera flash gelled with a full-cut of CTO, positioned to camera left. In the first image the light is more subtle and natural looking, while in the second two, it is stronger. This strong light is mixed bag, it looks a bit artificial, which of course it is, but provides a snap to their bright blue feathers. Which do you prefer?

These three images are available for sale on my stock site as prints and digital downloads right here.

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