Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata
My father-in-law doesn’t have very many kind words for this bird. We were camping last October and the blue jays were quite visible.
You can find these birds all over the eastern part of the country and almost covering the entire mid west. It looks like the Rockies are the only thing keeping them from covering the entire country.
They get their name from the loud vocalizations. They are sometimes called jaybirds. I just call them loud and distinctive.