When a bird is common enough and obtrousive enough (and often obnoxious enough) birders call it a junk bird. House Sparrow is a junk bird almost where ever it occures. Juncos in most places in winter are (no pun intended) junk birds. They are everywhere and after a while it takes real effort to look at then anymore. I should say right here that I am philosophically opposed to the whole concept of the junk bird, but I certainly understand what birders mean by the term. So when the guy at Sana Anna National Wildlife Refuge said that the Green Jay was the world’s most attractive junk bird, I knew what he meant. In the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas the Green Jay is among the most common of birds. It is everywhere and since it frequents feeders it is very visible…not to mention noisy, messy, and agessive. A junk bird. Of course, if you live anywhere but the Valley, the Green Jay is an exotic tropical eruption of color and motion that has to delight. I visit the Valley at least once a year and look forward every year to seeing the Green Jays. And that is, of course where the most attractive part comes in.

Canon SX40HS at 1260mm equivalent field of view (840 optical plus 1.5x digital tel-converter). f5.8 @ 1/125th @ ISO 800. Program with iContrast. -1/3EV exposure compensation. The only way to photograph the hyperactive Green Jay in the light it frequents is to take a lot of exposures and hope for the best.

Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.