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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.
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WESTERN
SCRUB-JAY
Aphelocoma californica
PASSERIFORMES
Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Range
and Habitat
Resident from Washington, Wyoming, and Colorado south to Texas and Mexico.
Preferred habitats include scrub oak, woodlands, and chaparral. Also
inhabits suburban gardens.
SOUND: "jay",
"jree", "check-check-check"
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.
The Western Scrub-Jay is a native of western North America, including
southern Washington, central Texas and central Mexico. This bird may
also be called the California Jay
or Long-tailed Jay.
This species may be found in urban areas, and will feed from man-made
structures. The Western Scrub-Jay is a permanent, year-round resident
of its habitat, including low scrublands, pinyon-juniper forests, oak
woodlands and suburban gardens. Nests are built low in trees or bushes.
Food is foraged from the forest floor, and diets consist
of frogs and lizards, eggs and young birds, insects,
grains, nuts and berries.
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