Again, I hear the blue jay cry, this time a bit closer ... They are so small they can’t carry more than one peanut at a time. They run up my 80-foot-tall oak tree like a bolt of lightning ...

Polytypic. Length 11.5". A nearly unmistakable dark blue, black-crested jay with variable white or blue markings on the head. The wings and tail are a vivid blue, with fine black barring.