Search Wildlife
≡
Photo by Robert T. Maytum
Photo Courtesy of Robert T. Maytum
Western Scrub-jay
Aphelocoma californica
Other common names: Western Scrub-Jay
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G5
State (S-rank): S5
External links
General information
The western scrub-jay, Aphelocoma californica, occurs through much of Mexico and in the western United States. In Utah, it is common state-wide, especially in shrub-dominated habitats such as scrub oak stands and pinyon-juniper forests.
The western scrub-jay is omnivorous. Insects are an important component of the diet, as are nuts, seeds, and fruits, especially during the non-breeding season. This jay also feeds on the eggs and young of small birds, and a variety of other small vertebrates. Nests are built by both parents of sticks, stems, and grasses, and lined with fine plant fibers and hair. They are usually located close to the ground from three to ten feet up in a tree or bush. Typically two or three eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 15 to 17 days. During this period, the male brings food to the nest. After hatching, the young are tended by both parents and leave the nest after about 18 days. Often, the young remain with the parents for a long period after leaving the nest, with small family flocks remaining together until the next year.
Species range
RESIDENT: southwestern Washington to southwestern Wyoming, Colorado, and central Texas south through the southwestern U.S. to southern Baja California and Oaxaca, Puebla, and west-central Veracruz, Mexico.
Habitat
Scrub (especially oak, pinyon and juniper), brush, chaparral and pine-oak associations; also riparian woodland, gardens, orchards, mangroves (southern Baja California), and tropical deciduous forest (southern Mexico) (Subtropical and Temperate zones, upper Tropical Zone in southern Mexico) (AOU 1983, 1995). Nests usually in low trees or shrubs, 0.5-3.5 m above ground (Terres 1980).
Food habits
Feeds on nuts (acorns, pinyon nuts), grains (corn, oats), fruit, insects (wasps, bees, caterpillars cutworms, grasshoppers, etc.), mollusks, eggs and young of small birds, mice, shrews, frogs, lizards, etc. (Bent 1946).
Ecology
Travels alone or in small family groups. In Oaxaca, Mexico, occurred in temporally stable groups of 2-6 adults; territories averaged 1.5 ha (Burt and Peterson 1993). In coastal California, territories averaged "about 3 ha" (Verbeek 1973), and in New Mexico, a single territory measured 2.1 ha (Hardy 1961).
Reproductive characteristics
In Oaxaca, Mexico, nested at least from early April to late July (Burt and Peterson 1993). Clutch size is 2-7 (usually 4-6; 3 in Oaxaca, with reduction to 2 fledglings typical). Incubation lasts about 16 days, by female. Young are tended by parents and (in Oaxaca) young of previous brood. Young leave nest at about 18 days. First breeds as early as 1 year in some areas. Long-term pair bond. High adult survivorship. Breeds only in pairs in most of range (except southern end of range in Mexico). In Oaxaca, helpers aided in predator defense, territorial defense, and feeding fledglings; singular breeding was the norm (Burt and Peterson 1993).
References
- Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder's handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Shuster, Inc., New York. xxx + 785 pp.
- Baicich, P. J., and C. J. O. Harrison. 1997. A guide to the nests, eggs, and nestlings of North American Birds, Second Ed. Academic Press, San Diego. 347 pp.
