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54 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 7, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 4, 2005 Since You Asked Steller jay is a stellar bird, by any name The Steller's jay is spelled with an "er" not an "ar". According to The Birder's Handbook, the Steller's jay was named for the German naturalist George Steller. Other than the misspelling, you did a nice job answering the bluebird question. — Liz N. Perhaps our Bird Man likes birds more than the average person, Liz, hence "stellar" instead of "Steller." And of course our editors should think nothing less of such an attractive bird. But you are correct. Doublechecking your correction, we found a fascinating and tragic history behind the name. George Wilhelm Steller was born in Germany and employed by the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg when in 1741 he became the first white man in Alaska. In an excursion across a yet-unnamed sea sailing with Capt. Vitus Bering (yep, he’s the one), Steller identified several animals and plants, among them the Steller’s jay. The "tragic" part hits on the return and doesn’t stop. Bering’s ship wrecks and Steller is among a handful to winter on a bleak island until they escape in the spring on a ship made from the wreckage. Advertisement Hot-tempered Steller remains in Siberia, studying there until he runs afoul of czarist bureaucrats and is imprisoned until eventually cleared. Leaving for St. Petersburg to publish his work, he is jailed again by officials who didn’t know he had been cleared. Freed but sick, he dies at age 37 before reaching his destination. The Steller’s jay wasn’t "known" until English naturalist John Latham described it in 1781 from one captured on Vancouver Island by Capt. James Cook’s expedition. If not for naturalist Leonhard Stejneger’s fascination with Steller and his publication of a biography in 1936, we might be calling those striking birds Latham’s jays. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Paris Hilton Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s