A Quick Study of Hillary Clinton

No, not the politician. The Island Scrub Jay, of course!

This is Hillary. I absolutely adore her.

As I mentioned in this post from 2011, we have a study plot whose territorial pairs are named after political figures (loosely translated--we have a Dennis Rodman, and a Ghengis Kahn, among others). Our cabins are located in the center of the Field Station plot, on the convergence of three territories: Castro and Dahlia, Tony and Cherie Blair, and Bart Stupak (who we call Pug) and Hillary Clinton. These birds get quite a bit more attention than the other birds in the neighboring territories because we hang out on our porch and they come beg for peanuts. It's pretty hard to resist.

Their boldness allows for close views of these phenomenal birds, so I present to you a simple study of Hillary Clinton.

Her colorband combination is GBG/AR.

This is what Hillary looks like underneath her feathers.

Island Scrub Jays have blue undertail coverts, one of the many features that distinguishes it from the Western Scrub Jay.

A close up of Hillary's feet. A bird's feet are the equivalent of our toes. Her bands are on her tarsus, which is like our foot. Her "backwards knee" is her ankle, and her knee and hip are hidden inside fluffy body feathers (see naked Hillary above to try to figure it out!).

The Primaries and Secondaries (main flight feathers of the wing) are capped by Primary and Secondary Coverts, the small rectangular feathers in the top left of the photo. Also note the gray body feathers--they are wispy and loose, unlike the sturdy flight feathers that need to be able to withstand the force of air when they fly. Body feathers provide insulation (like your down jacket!).

PUG up close. All ISSJs have chocolate eyes. Here he shows us the white "eyebrow", called a supercilium. All the feathers around the eyes are stiff and thin to protect the eyes from getting gunk in them. The long black thin "feathers" coming from his "chin" are called rictal bristles. They can help the bird sense things that are below their range of sight.

PUG/AR showing us his nictitating membrane, a third eyelid used to clean the eyeball and keep it moist. They blink with this most of the time, rather than their normal eyelids.

 Do you have questions about the Island Scrub Jay? There is so much to learn! Ask me in the comments and I will try to answer as best I can with photos, anecdotes, and some good ole' scientific exploration.