These guys built a blue jay called Cobb a few years back, and I simply thought it was great. It inspired me to build Cackle, and I also put in a commission with them to build a Steller's Jay.

He's named Kootenay for the place in British Columbia, where I currently live. Steller's Jays are also the provincial bird of BC, so this was part of the choice for his species. The other is that jays are corvids - my favorite family of birds.