3rd Round

19 July 2010
Cliff Weisse--Accept

same comments

07-29-2010
Sturts--Accept

I'm still convinced with the identification of Blue Jay and not a hybrid.

07-18-2010
Dave Trochlell--Accept

As in the last vote, I now believe this to be a juvenile Blue Jay, perhaps the first or one of very few ever verified in Idaho.

15 July 2010
Hardy--Accept

Same comments as first round.

07-20-2010
Darren Clark--Accept

After further research and comments from Dave I'm now changing my vote back to accept.

7-30-10
chuck trost--Accept

I guess I'll again reverse my vote. This sounds like a large family group, and the pics are of young birds.

07-28-2010
Carlisle--Accept

With a slight bit of hesitation, I'll change (again) to accept. I'm in CT visiting family right now and had 10' view of Blue Jays today that didn't look much different than the pics. The photo'd birds show very little to definitively point to hybridization so I'll lean back towards accept and again request that we expand the dates of all sightings to reflect the likely breeding.

1^st Round

2nd Round

28 February 2010
Weisse – Accept

9 April 2010
Cliff Weisse--Accept

same comments

03-02-2010
Sturts--Accept

Well described and with good photos

06-26-2010
Sturts--Accept

I'm staying with my first round vote fo the same reasons.

03-03-2010
Dave Trochlell--Reject, specific identification not established

Unfortuntely for this record, this bird appears to be a Blue Jay X Steller's Jay hybrid. Obvious indications of gene introgression appear on the the bird's face (too dark for BLJA) and tail (only faint barring, more like STJA) areas.

04-09-2010
Dave Trochlell--Accept

I'm changing my vote to accept on this record. I previously thought this bird was a hybrid jay, and on that basis I rejected the record. But after some remedial education about juvenile BLJA plumages, I'm now convinced this is a bonafide juvenile BLJA. Would this be the first documentation of a successful BLJA nesting in Idaho?

3 March 2010
Hardy--Accept

No signs of hybridization in photos. I wonder where this family hatched.

27 April 2010
Hardy--Accept

Same comments as first round.

03-10-2010
Darren Clark--Accept

The photographs leave no doubt as to the identification of this species.

05-04-2010
Darren Clark--Reject, specific identification not established

Dave makes a good point about hybridization. The face really doesn't look great for a pure Blue Jay. I'm changing my vote to reject.

3-16-10
chuck trost--Accept

The pictures and description seem convincing, but I was unable to determine how many blue jays were seen. The dates make it possible that these birds are breeding here. We need more info on this.

5-6-10
chuck trost--Reject, specific identification not established

I think Dave is correct - this may well be a hybrid BLJA X STJA. Therefore I don't think we can accept it as a valid summer record for a bLJA.

4-3-10
Carlisle--Accept

looks good ... it seems that it'd be worth noting other dates on which these birds were observed (by other observers) as the single date doesn't really do justice to the likelihood that the birds bred locally

4-18-10
Carlisle--Reject, specific identification not established

I'm not entirely comfortable with assessing potential hybrids b/t these species but I can see Dave's point about the more extensive dark on the face and the less obvious barring on the tail which suggests mixed ancestry for at least the lower bird in the photos