Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: Wandering Albatross Molt
Wandering Albatross flying low over the water, it's long gray wings stretched out, white body held horizontal, pink beak
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • Daily Shows
    • Threatened
    • Grouse
    • BirdNote Presents
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
    • Success Stories
  • About
    • The BirdNote Story
    • The Team
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

How the Steller's Jay Got Its Crest

A story from the Northwest Coastal Native tradition
Subscribe to the Podcast
Download
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Steller's Jay perched on a branch, it's head turned to the side showing the crest of feathers on its head
© Mick Thompson

 

The Makahs tell a story about how the bird we know as the Steller's Jay - the bird the Makahs call Kwish-kwishee - got its crest. The mink, Kwahtie, tried to shoot his mother, the jay, with an arrow but missed. Her crest is ruffled to this day.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits
BirdNote®
How the Steller’s Jay Got Its Crest

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote!
[Steller’s Jay calls]
In the 1860s, James Swan, an early European resident of the Northwest Coast, lived among the Makah Indians. The Makahs told Swan this story about how the bird we know as the Steller’s Jay—the bird the Makahs call Kwish-kwishee—got its crest:
[Steller's Jay calls]
“The mink, Kwahtie (a as in cat), was a great liar . . . very shrewd . . . [and] full of rascalities . . . . Once while Kwahtie was making an arrow, his mother directed him to get some water, but he refused until he should have finished his work. His mother told him to make haste, for she felt she was turning into a bird. While she was talking, she turned into a blue jay and flew into a bush. Kwahtie tried to shoot her, but his arrow passed behind her neck, glancing over the top of her head, ruffling up her feathers, as they have always remained.” [Steller’s Jay calls]
We should be heartened that Kwahtie’s aim was slightly off. Not only is his mother, the Steller’s Jay, still with us, but she will forever flaunt that rakish crest. [Steller’s Jay calls]
To see a photograph of a Steller’s Jay by prize-winning photographer Paul Bannick, come to our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Frank Corrado.
###

Call of the Steller’s Jay provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by G.A. Keller.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2007 Tune In to Nature.org   Rev. for Nov. 2009

ID# 110107STJA6KPLU

Quotation from: James Gilchrist Swan. The Indians of Cape Flattery, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 1869, p. 64.

 

Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Frank Corrado
Narrator
Mick Thompson
Photographer
Support More Shows Like This
Tagsmyth

Related Resources

Steller's Jay - More at Cornell's All About Birds

More About These Birds

Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Cyanocitta stelleri

Sights & Sounds

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • Daily Shows
  • Field Notes
  • BirdNote Presents
  • Sights & Sounds
  • About BirdNote
  • Contact BirdNote
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy