How long do scrub jays live

Vehicle strikes are also a threat to the population Johnson et al. The Florida scrub-jay is protected by the U. Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Prescribed burning is an essential element to conserving the Florida scrub-jay. Federal Recovery Plan. Scrub Management Guidelines. FSJ Banding Guidelines.

Florida Natural Areas Inventory. Field guide to the rare animals of Florida. Johnson, S. Miller, and T. Woolfenden, G. Florida Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma coerulescens. Species account, version 2. Poole and F. Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk. Our email newsletter shares the latest programs and initiatives. This is the "blue jay" of parks, neighborhoods, and riverside woods near the Pacific Coast.

Pairs of California Scrub-Jays are often seen swooping across clearings, giving harsh calls, with their long tails flopping in flight. They readily come to backyard bird feeders. Until recently, this jay was considered part of the same species as the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay; the two were officially "split" in July Photo gallery. Feeding Behavior Forages on the ground and in trees, singly or in family units during breeding season, sometimes in flocks at other seasons.

Eggs , sometimes Young Fed by both parents. Diet Omnivorous. Climate threats facing the California Scrub-Jay Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases.

Explore Similar Birds. The Bird Guide Adopt a Bird. Blue Jay Latin: Cyanocitta cristata. Canada Jay Latin: Perisoreus canadensis. Clark's Nutcracker Latin: Nucifraga columbiana.

Florida Scrub-Jay Latin: Aphelocoma coerulescens. Green Jay Latin: Cyanocorax yncas. Island Scrub-Jay Latin: Aphelocoma insularis. Mexican Jay Latin: Aphelocoma wollweberi. The Pacific coastal group has a distinct blue collar and is brighter in color than those of the interior West. They also have beaks that are short and hooked for eating acorns, while interior scrub-jays have longer, more pointed beaks for extracting pine nuts from pinecones. Their behavior can be bold and inquisitive, and their calls can be loud and raucous, although the jays of the interior tend to be quieter and their calls are lower-pitched than those of the coast.

Western scrub-jays are about The Western scrub-jay does not migrate. Western scrub-jays are found in semidesert scrub, chaparral, and open oak woodlands near the Pacific coast, and dry mountain canyons with pinyon pine and juniper forests in the Rockies, but they prefer scrubby, brushy areas. Coastal subspecies are often found in backyards. Adult and juvenile jays must watch out for predators including raptors, common ravens, snakes, and other jays. Western scrub-jays eat insects, fruits, nuts, berries, and seeds, and occasionally small animals.

They often forage in pairs or family groups. Jays are known as planters of acorns. They scatter these in many hiding places for later retrieval. They move thousands of acorns each fall, often depositing them in damp soil.

Western scrub-jays have been shown to have an ability to plan ahead in choosing food storage sites, remembering the locations of their caches and storing enough food to plan for the future. Jays can also be quite sneaky when it comes to acquiring and storing food. They steal acorns from acorn woodpecker caches and from stores hidden by other jays, and then look around to make sure no one is watching before they hide their prize again. They have also been observed picking parasites such as ticks from the backs of mule deer.

Western scrub-jay pairs make basket-shaped nests of twigs lined with fibers and hair. Nests are built low and concealed behind foliage, generally in an oak or pinyon pine. They have one brood of one to five eggs. The young remain with the parents for about five months.