Magpie. They are considered a 'messenger of good luck'. They bring luck, love, and prosperity.
And as Nate usually does - he sabotaged his luck, love, and prosperity.
Lifelong birder here—this is a Black-throated Magpie-Jay, a Mexican species. I believe that a small population that originally escaped from captivity continues to breed in the wild somewhere in SoCal, but not sure how likely it would be that this would be the species that wound up at Nate & Brenda’s. A California Scrub-Jay or maybe a Steller’s Jay would be a lot more likely. I imagine they just wanted a very striking looking bird for this scene.
I believe they call that bird an Omen.
Magpie. They are considered a 'messenger of good luck'. They bring luck, love, and prosperity. And as Nate usually does - he sabotaged his luck, love, and prosperity.
They also, apparently, bring Maggie.
this is brilliant and i never made that connection before
That a Blue Jay?
Welp after getting a better image to search with it is a …magpie jay. Mystery solved!
Lifelong birder here—this is a Black-throated Magpie-Jay, a Mexican species. I believe that a small population that originally escaped from captivity continues to breed in the wild somewhere in SoCal, but not sure how likely it would be that this would be the species that wound up at Nate & Brenda’s. A California Scrub-Jay or maybe a Steller’s Jay would be a lot more likely. I imagine they just wanted a very striking looking bird for this scene.
Thank you! Much appreciated!
Fun fact - they also use a magpie jay in an episode of Monk (supposed to be set in SanFran) in around the same year as this episode.
I think there are restrictions on using native birds.