The scrub jay, and a hot day at the end of August

After coming back from seeing "Taking Woodstock" with Janice and Brian I stopped by to pick up my latest favorite salad from Trader Joe's, Artichoke and Palm Heart with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Yummy. It had been a triple digit day and it was still hot at 5 PM, but I wanted to eat outside in the shade. The scrub jay, a regular visitor, came by to perch on the lip of a wrought iron plant stand, presently plant-less, seven feet away. He waited patiently while I ate, with the dogs sitting or lying at my feet waiting for that chance stray piece of lettuce to fall. Towards the end of my meal he moved to the rump of a 16" tall brass horse, just 3 feet from me. It was great to be able to look at him so closely, to see the details of his feathers, and feet, and eyes, and beak. He began making his little chirp/cluck kind of sound and I saw that the other scrub jay had flown to the top of a nearby juniper.

I finished the salad and grabbed the peanut jar and put some peanuts in the scrub jays' bowl. After stepping away the first scrub jay came down quickly to grab one and fly off, to eat it or bury it, who knows.

At school we have scrub jays who come to visit the acrylic bird feeder attached outside to our window. I told the kids that scrub jays are an example of sexual dimorphism, where there is no visible difference between the male and female. I preceded this piece of information by telling them I was going to use a word that might make them giggle or laugh because they don't usually hear this in mixed company, or with an adult. But that it's a scientific word, and that's how it's being used. I've found that instead of springing a word that might make 7th graders feel uncomfortable, like sex, if I give a little introduction first I may still get some giggles but the reaction is much better than if I hadn't given the preview.

We went on to talk about scrub jays being in the crow family and that crows are also sexually dimorphic. And how that's different than, say, a peacock and a pea hen. Or even the goldfinches who were visiting the wild sunflowers that had grown up over the summer in the garden just outside our schoolroom back door. The difference between the male and female goldfinches though was more subtle.

I was telling Jane, the rescuer of squirrels and opossums and a variety of birds, about this conversation with the kids and she said that you can tell the difference between male and female in scrub jays. Well, either I'm only seeing one gender, which just doesn't seem likely, or they're like the goldfinch and the difference isn't obvious to the less astute observer. And actually the kids are better at telling the difference between the two scrub jays that visit us at school. Last year they named them Peanuts and Electric Blue. When one or the other visited the kids would have quick discussions on which one it was till they came to a consensus. This can be a bit disruptive to a math lesson, but well worth it, and the kids know when it's time to get back to work and they're really good about it. At Back To School Night last Wednesday even some of the parents had positive things to say about the stories their kids are bringing home about our scrub jays. This makes me happy...