Sluggin' Along: The Vault: Passerine Birds

I'd venture to say that virtually everyone can identify the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) because of its unmistakable characteristics. I think it's one of the prettiest birds, though I wish it would visit our yard more often and not screech quite so much! The Blue Jay is a passerine bird. That is, they have mastery of their syrinx muscles, allowing them to produce a wide range of vocalizations; their unwebbed toes are arranged in an anisodactyl manner, allowing them to perch easily on tree limbs and even on vertical surfaces like tree trunks and cliffs; their young are altricial (blind, featherless, and helpless when newly hatched, requiring parental care) and most lay colored eggs.

Here is the pterylosis (feather tracts) of a typical passerine bird:

R Bowdler Sharpe, 1891

And here are the types of bird feet, the Blue Jay's being at the top left:

The following diagrams were taken from http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdcommunication.html.

The syrinx is the avian vocal organ:

Passerine syrinx.

The difference between the brains of a songbird, such as the Blue Jay, and a non-songbird.

The following diagrams were taken from http://swartzentrover.com/cotor/Photos/Hiking/Birds/BirdPages/Anatomy/Anatomy.htm, which took them from eNature.com.

Now for the external anatomy:

In flight:

So, now that you know a little more about passerine birds, here are some pictures I took in 2005 of the Blue Jay, a member of the family Corvidae:

This photo makes me nostalgic. I miss our pine trees so much! They attracted so many lovely birds and provided wonderful shade. I wish they hadn't caught a disease and died.