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Bird name:

Western Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma californica

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Code 4

WESJ

Code 6

APHCAL

ITIS

554128

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Mountains, Scrub vegetation areas

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common to common

Egg Color:

Green or gray with brown, red brown or olive spots

Number of Eggs:

2 - 7

Incubation Days:

15 - 17

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Twigs, grass, and moss, lined with finer rootlets and animal hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Readily Eats

Cracked Corn, Suet, Sunflower Seed

Vocalization

Western Scrub-Jay: Call is a loud, throaty "jay" or "jree." In flight, a long series of "check-check-check" notes are emitted.

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.

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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.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America