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Western Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma californicaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Western Scrub-Jay Portrait_2
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General

Western Scrub-Jay: Medium-sized, crestless jay with blue head, wings and tail, gray mask and back, and pale gray underparts. Dark-streaked, white throat is bordered by dark necklace. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is grayer.

Range and Habitat

Western Scrub-Jay: Resident from Washington, Wyoming, and Colorado south to Texas and Mexico. Preferred habitats include scrub oak, woodlands, and chaparral. Also inhabits suburban gardens.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"jay", "jree", "check-check-check"

Interesting Facts

 Researchers have studied the ability of Western Scrub-Jays to hide (cache) and remember seeds, of these seeds, for instance acorns, are forgotten and later germinate.

 This species is known to feed on parasites on the body of mule deer, hopping over the body and head of the deer to get them.

 A group of jays has many collective nouns, including a "band", "cast", "party", and "scold" of jays.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Western Scrub-Jay
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Jays and Magpies (Corvidae)_blue
Species Aphelocoma californica
Length11 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Western Scrub-Jay

Western Scrub-Jay: Medium, crestless jay, blue head, wings, tail, gray mask, back, pale gray underparts. Dark-streaked, white throat bordered by dark necklace. Bill, legs, feet are black. Eats grains, fruits, insects, frogs, lizards and eggs and young of other birds. Flies with steady wing beats.

● Song: "jay", "jree", "check-check-check"

● Foraging & Feeding: Western Scrub-Jay: Diet consists of insects, grains, small lizards, frogs, fruits, and eggs and young of other birds; forages in trees and on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Western Scrub-Jay: Two to seven light gray or green eggs spotted with brown, red brown, or olive, are laid in a twiggy nest well hidden in a tree or dense shrub. Incubation ranges from 15 to 17 days and is carried out by the female. Male feeds female during incubation.

● Similar species: Western Scrub-Jay: Mexican Jay has uniform underparts lacking the white throat and dark collar. Pinyon Jay has blue underparts and shorter tail.

Flight Pattern

Steady buoyant wing beats.
Western Scrub-Jay Body Illustration_2
● Range & Habitat: Western Scrub-Jay: Resident from Washington, Wyoming, and Colorado south to Texas and Mexico. Preferred habitats include scrub oak, woodlands, and chaparral. Also inhabits suburban gardens.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common to common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight2.8 Ounces