Educate Yourself About the Western Scrub-jay and Other Jays
Western Scrub-jay
(Aphelocoma californica)
The Western Scrub Jay has a blue head, blue breast band, gray-blue or brownish back, white or gray underside, whitish or bluish undertail coverts, and its wingbeats are quicker and stiffer than those of Stellar’s Jay. Its length is 11in (28cm) Its wingspan is15in (38cm).Its voice is a call, usually a harsh, rising “shreeeenk”, but may include low clucking or clicking sounds. Their eggs are pale green with spots and dots of dark-olive, or red with spots of red-brown, and usually 1 clutch consisting of 3-4 or (2-7) eggs.
The female incubates for 15-17 days, and fledging time about 18-19 days. Both male and female feed their young.Male and female look alike.
The Western Scrub Jay got his name form frequent visits to shrub-oak forests, but you will find this bird in most backyards throughout much of the west. They are very noisy, especially when predators like, barn, screech, and great horned owls are around, and if you look up in the tress, you can probably catch a glance of one of the owls. If you watch closely, you can figure out where some of the hidden nests are, but do not disturb them if you locate one.
The Pacific Cost population is much brighter and bolder than the interior population, and they will become so tame, that when offered peanuts in a shell from your hand, they will boldly snatch them from you. You will notice, when they visit your bird feeders that many family members will feed at the same time, usually with another bird stationed on top of a large tree, sending out warning signals to alert of any in coming danger.
Also, at feeders the Western Scrub Jay and others jays will consume incredible amount of food in a short time, it has been observed that one Scrub Jay ate over 100 seeds in a half-hour time. Usually such collections are transported to another location, and stored for later retrieval, this behavior is called “caching”, Scrub Jays also like to collect and cache objects like pieces of glass, china or spoons because their glittering affect in the sunshine, just like crows like to do as well.
The Blue Jays like to collect whole acorns, and pine seeds, because the intact food will store better and longer, these seeds also has a greater chance of germinating, witch is an important part of the Jays role in spreading pine and oak forests. Acorn and pine seeds make up for 50% of the Jays diet, the other half consists of animal life, such as insects, and they will eat the young of small mice, lizards, and birds as well.
The females build the nests witch is usually a bulky messy-looking stack of sticks, she builds it about 2-12ft (0.5-3.5m) off the ground, and the male will feed her while she is incubating. The off springs from the Florida Scrub Jays, (restricted to the scrub habitat in central Florida), often helps their parents feed future broods for several years, before they nest for the first time.
If you like to attract different kinds of jays, like Blue Jay, Stellar’s Jay, and gray Jay, plant Pinyon Pine, pecan, walnut trees, and Gambel’s Oak, because these favorites, will provide a steady source of acorns, pine seeds, and nuts. Jays feast on fruit and berries as well, like blueberries, grapes, cherries and serviceberries. Also plant dense brush, for nesting opportunities, and put out sunflower seeds and peanuts in a shell for later consumption.
