California Scrub Jay

Appearance

The California scrub jay is a medium-sized bird, approximately 27–31 cm in length, with a 39 cm wingspan, and about 80 g in weight. In general, this species has a blue head, wings, and tail; a gray-brown back; grayish underparts; and white eyebrows. The throat is whitish with a blue necklace. The call or "screech" is described as "harsh and scratchy".

Naming

The generic name, "Aphelocoma", derives from Latinized Ancient Greek "apheles-" "simple" + Latin "coma" "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. The species name, "californica", is Latin for "from California".

The California scrub jay was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the "western scrub jay". The group was also lumped with the island scrub jay and the Florida scrub jay; the taxon was then called simply "scrub jay". The California scrub jay is nonmigratory and can be found in urban areas, where it can become tame and will come to bird feeders. While many refer to scrub jays as "blue jays", the blue jay is a different species of bird entirely.

Habitat

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True to its name, the California scrub jay inhabits areas of low scrub, preferring pinon-juniper forests, oak woods, and edges of mixed evergreen forests. It also inhabits suburban gardens.

Food

California scrub jays, like many other corvids, exploit ephemeral surpluses by storing food in scattered caches within their territories. They rely on highly accurate and complex memories to recover the hidden caches, often after long periods of time. In the process of collecting and storing this food, they have shown an ability to plan ahead in choosing cache sites to provide adequate food volume and variety for the future. Western scrub jays are also able to rely on their accurate observational spatial memories to steal food from caches made by conspecifics. Food-storing birds implement a number of strategies to protect their caches from potential 'pilferers.'

Anecdotally, scrub jays – and corvids more generally – are known for an attraction to, and thievery of, brightly colored objects. Recent research debunks, or at least casts doubt, on this idea. Corvids do, however, have a mischievous streak, and scrub jays are not above outright theft. They have been observed stealing acorns from acorn woodpecker caches. Some scrub jays snatch acorns from the hiding places of other jays. When these birds go to hide their own acorns, they check first that no other jays are watching. Other protection methods include moving the cache in the presence of an observer, storing inedible decoys like small stones instead of food, and hiding the cache once a scavenging bird is no longer watching; these behaviors are thought to vary based on the presence or absence of potential pilferers as well as what kind of animal might pilfer the cache, implying strategic and socially complex motives behind different kinds of caching behavior.

Defense

The chicks start off fully gray. The older they get, the more they turn blue. On their heads, chicks tend to have a red crest that resembles a comb. The chick will lose its crest at day seven, just like the way the baby chickens lose their egg tooth at 5–7 days. Nests are built low in trees or bushes, 1–10 m above the ground, primarily by the female, while the male guards her efforts. The nests are sturdy, with an outside diameter of 33–58 cm, constructed on a platform of twigs with moss and dry grasses lined with fine roots and hair. Four to six eggs are laid from March through July, with some regional variations. There are two common shell color variations: pale green with irregular, olive-colored spots or markings; and pale grayish-white to green with reddish-brown spots. The female incubates the eggs for about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 18 days after hatching.