<p data-flag="normal" style="color:#333333;font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:30px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;hyphens:auto;text-align:justify;">A rakish, eye-catching crest really sets some birds apart. Picture the Blue Jaysof the East… or Stetter’s Jays of the West.</p><p data-flag="normal" style="color:#333333;font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:30px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;hyphens:auto;text-align:justify;">Ajay’s crest is made up of a slender array of feathers on top of its head. Thesefeathers are a bit longer and can be spiked up or slicked back, depending onwhat the bird is trying to communicate.</p><p data-flag="normal" style="color:#333333;font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:30px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;hyphens:auto;text-align:justify;">Whenjays 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 courtshipor conflict, a jay’s sharply raised crest tells a tale.</p><p data-flag="normal" style="color:#333333;font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:30px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;hyphens:auto;text-align:justify;">Thesame goes for Northern Cardinals and, perhaps, most crested birds. Even birdswithout crests, like crows or sparrows, sometimes puff up their short crownfeathers.</p><p data-flag="normal" style="color:#333333;font-weight:normal;font-size:16px;line-height:30px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;hyphens:auto;text-align:justify;">Whysome species have crests and others don’t remains a complex evolutionaryquestion dating back to the dinosaurs.</p><span><br></span><br>