Florida Scrub-Jay

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

Codes: Common Name: FLSJ Scientific Name: APHCOE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179693

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Overview

Florida Scrub-Jay: Medium, crestless jay with gray upperparts and underparts, blue head, and pale eyebrows. Throat is gray and breast has blue-gray streaks. The wings and tail are blue. Bill, legs and feet are black. Direct flight with steady bouyant wing beats. Glides between perches.

Range and Habitat

Florida Scrub-Jay: Restricted to scrublands across central Florida; found in dense growths of low oaks, myrtles, sand pines, palmettos, and thickets.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"Quay-quay-quay", "cheek-cheek-cheek"

Interesting Facts

The Florida Scrub-Jay is the only species of bird to be exclusively found in the state of Florida. There are several groups in Florida lobbying for it to become the state bird in place of the Northern Mockingbird.

Males and females are not visually distinguishable, but females have a unique “hiccup” vocalization.

Fledglings usually stay near to where they hatched as “helpers”, forming cooperative family groups. They assist in feeding other nestlings, defending the family territory from other scrub-jay groups and watching for predators.

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

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Related Birds

Pinyon Jay
Blue Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Mexican Jay
Island 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.

Florida Scrub-Jay

● Song: "Quay-quay-quay", "cheek-cheek-cheek"

● Foraging & Feeding: Florida Scrub-Jay: Eats insects, spiders, ticks, mice, small turtles, eggs and young of smaller birds, acorns, nuts, and fruits. Forages in low to middle levels in vegetation or hops on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Florida Scrub-Jay: Two to five pale green eggs irregularly spotted with red-brown are laid in a nest made of bulky sticks, lined with roots, twigs, moss, grass, and hair, and built on a horizontal branch or in the crotch of a low tree or bush, 2 to 12 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 15 to 17 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Florida Scrub-Jay: Blue Jay has slightly larger, chunkier body, blue crest, black collar from breast to nape, black back, and bold white spots on wings and tail.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with steady buoyant wing beats. Glides between perches within tree, between trees, and from tree to ground.

Florida Scrub-Jay Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Florida Scrub-Jay: Restricted to scrublands across central Florida; found in dense growths of low oaks, myrtles, sand pines, palmettos, and thickets.

^BreedingMonogamous, Cooperative

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight2.8 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

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