What Are Birds Saying with Their Crests?

BirdNote^® 
Jays and Crests 
Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

       [Blue Jay call]

A rakish, eye-catching crest really sets some birds apart. Picture the Blue Jays of the East…

       [Blue Jay call]

— or Steller’s Jays of the West:

       [Steller's Jay calls]

A jay’s crest is made up of a slender array of feathers on top of its head. These feathers are a bit longer and can be spiked up or slicked back, depending on what the bird is trying to communicate.

       [Blue Jay tweedle song]

When jays are sitting on eggs, feeding their young, or hanging out with their mate, their crests lie low. But in the case of heightened arousal, like in courtship or conflict, a jay’s sharply raised crest tells a tale.

       [Blue Jay call]

The same goes for Northern Cardinals and, perhaps, most crested birds. Even birds without crests, like crows or sparrows, sometimes puff up their short crown feathers.

Why some species have crests and others don’t remains a complex evolutionary question dating back to the dinosaurs.

       [Blue Jay call]

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

Support for BirdNote is provided by Jim and Birte Falconer and generous listeners from around the world.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Blue Jay ML 237006 recorded by B Mcguire; ML 77280 Blue Jay recorded by W Hershberger; ML 120042551 Blue Jay recorded by F Pinilla; Steller's Jay ML 125141401 recorded by R Hudson. 

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Narrator: Michale Stein
© 2019 BirdNote   June 2019 / May 2023 / July 2025

Source ID#  crest-01-2019-06-19         crest-01