Western Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma californicaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Codes: Common Name: WESJ Scientific Name: APHCAL ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554128

Related Birds

Gray Jay
Green Jay
Pinyon Jay
Steller's Jay
Clark's Nutcracker
Blue Jay
Mexican Jay
Island Scrub-Jay
Florida Scrub-Jay

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

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.

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.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

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.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Santiago Cornejo

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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.

Western Scrub-Jay

● 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.

● 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

Perching-like Body

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