Cyanocitta stelleri
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (photo by Darren Swim) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is a bird native to western North America and the mountains of Central America, closely related to the blue jay (C. cristata) found in eastern North America. It is the only crested jay west of the Rocky Mountains. It is also sometimes colloquially called a "blue jay" in the Pacific Northwest, but is distinct from the blue jay of eastern North America. The species inhabits pine-oak and coniferous forests.
Steller's jay was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the crows in the genus Corvus and coined the binomial name Corvus stelleri. Gmelin based his account on "Stellers crow" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had examined a specimen belonging to the naturalist Joseph Banks that had been collected in Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island off the Pacific coast of Canada. The specimen was one of the birds collected on Captain James Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean. During this voyage Cook visited Nootka Sound from 29 March... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 12 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 13 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | La Tigra National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 19 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 20 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 7 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Steller's Jay sighting in Banff National Park on a given day, based on 705 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 191 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, September and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Steller's Jay in Banff National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and December, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Steller's Jay sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
15th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Steller's Jay sightings, Banff National Park ranks 15th at about 10%. The best odds are in Yosemite National Park (United States, about 80%), Redwood National Park (United States, about 60%) and Rocky Mountain National Park (United States, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Steller's Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Banff National Park (705 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
