How Can We Help?
< Back

The passerine birds of the genus Aphelocoma[a] include the scrub jays and their relatives. They are New World jays found in Mexico, western Central America and the western United States, with an outlying population in Florida. This genus belongs to the group of New World (or "blue") jays–possibly a distinct subfamily–which is not closely related to other jays, magpies or treepies.[2] They live in open pine-oak forests, chaparral, and mixed evergreen forests.

Systematics

Florida scrub jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens

Seven species of Aphelocoma are generally recognized at the present time. They are believed to have evolved in the Pleistocene, and the Florida scrub jay is known to have been recognizably distinct and present in its current range for at least two million years.[3] The inland, coastal, and Santa Cruz island populations of the (former) western scrub-jay are now considered three separate species: Woodhouse's, the California and the island scrub jays. Two different populations of the Mexican jay might similarly represent two separate species.[4]

Genus AphelocomaCabanis, 1851 – seven species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Unicolored jay

Aphelocoma unicolor
(Du Bus de Gisignies, 1847)

Five subspecies
  • A. u. guerrerensis
  • A. u. concolor
  • A. u.oaxacae
  • A. u. unicolor
  • A. u. griscomi
Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental mountains of Mexico, north to southeast
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Mexican jay

Aphelocoma wollweberi
Kaup, 1855

Five subspecies
  • A. w. gracilis
  • A. w. wollweberi
  • A. w. arizonae
  • A. w. couchii
  • A. w. potosina
Southwestern US, Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Transvolcanic jay

Aphelocoma ultramarina
(Bonaparte, 1825)
Transvolcanic Belt of central Mexico
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Island scrub jay

Aphelocoma insularis
Henshaw, 1886
Santa Cruz Island off southern California
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 VU 


California scrub jay

Aphelocoma californica
(Vigors, 1839)

Six subspecies
  • Aphelocoma californica immanis Grinnell, 1901
  • Aphelocoma californica caurina Pitelka, 1951
  • Aphelocoma californica oocleptica Swarth, 1918
  • Aphelocoma californica californica (Vigors, 1839)
  • Aphelocoma californica obscura Anthony, 1889
  • Aphelocoma californica cana Pitelka, 1951
coastal western North America from British Columbia to Baja California
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Woodhouse's scrub jay

Aphelocoma woodhouseii
(Baird, SF, 1858)

Seven subspecies
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii nevadae Pitelka, 1945a
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii woodhouseii (Baird, 1858)
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii texana Ridgway, 1902
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii grisea Nelson, 1899
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii cyanotis Ridgway, 1887
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii sumichrasti (Baird and Ridgway, 1874)
  • Aphelocoma woodhouseii remota Griscom, 1934
inland western North America, from Oregon through Texas and south to northern interior Mexico
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Florida scrub jay

Aphelocoma coerulescens
(Bosc, 1795)
Florida
Map of range
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 VU 




mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data[4] is unable to properly resolve the relationships of the species. Judging from New World jay biogeography, the unicolored or Mexican jays might represent the most basal lineage; morphology would tentatively lean towards the latter which retains more of the group's color patterns, while the available molecular data allows no robust conclusions whatsoever. In any case, the data of Rice et al. (2003)[4] suggests – albeit also with very low confidence – that the Mexican jay comprises two clades which might constitute two separate species. However, far too few individuals have been sampled to say anything definite on that matter, except that the lineages – if they indeed exist – do not correspond to the geographical pattern of intraspecific variation (see species article for more).

The western scrub-jay is now made up of three species. These would be separated by the Great Basin, with the Pacific coastal lineage (California scrub-jay) and the island scrub-jay, as well as the inland lineage (Woodhouse's scrub-jay), with the Florida scrub-jay being a sister species. This treatment fails to address the problem of birds from inland southern Mexico.[4] Nonetheless, it is actually because the molecular diversity pattern is so badly resolved that it supports the view that rapid Late Pliocene radiation of the North American scrub-jays led to the present diversity. Studies on the evolutionary history of Aphelocoma jays suggests that all New World jays originated in North America or Mesoamerica.[5]

Description

Aphelocoma jays are slightly larger than the Blue Jay and differ in having a longer tail, slightly shorter, more rounded wings, and no crest on the head. The top of the head, nape, and sides of the head are a rich deep blue. Some species have a white stripe above the eye and dark ear coverts. The breast is also white or grey-white and the back is a grey-brown contrasting with the bright blue tail and wings in most species. One species, the Unicolored Jay, is blue all over, superficially similar to the Pinyon Jay from much further north. The bill, legs, and feet are black.

Behavior

Juvenile Florida scrub jay at Blue Spring State Park, Florida

The diet consists mainly of acorns and pine nuts. However, grain, berries, and other fruits are often eaten as well. These birds can also be omnivorous; their diet can include insects, eggs and nestlings, small frogs, mice, and reptiles. As food-storing birds, the scrub jays demonstrate a unique episodic memory. They can find their food hiding places with great precision, even several days after the initial cache.

Wild Aphelocoma jays are frequent visitors at campsites and picnics and have frequently learned to eat from the hands of people where they have become accustomed to being fed.

The nest is in a tree or a bush, sometimes quite low down. The nests are compact and lined with hair and fine roots with an outer diameter of about 30 cm to 60 cm. Usually 2 to 4 eggs are laid and incubated over 14 to 16 days. There are two main variations of egg shell color: green with olive markings or a paler background of grayish-white to green with red-brown markings. The Florida scrub jay and the Mexican jay both have cooperative breeding systems involving several 'helpers' at each nest, usually relatives of the breeding pair.

Increased prolactin in the breeding pair leads to the expression of parental behavior and physiology.[6] The source of the alloparental behavior found in helper birds has been the focus of many studies. A positive correlation was found between increased prolactin levels during the breeding period and helping behavior in non-breeding Aphelocoma jays.[6] This suggests that helper birds do not simply respond to the calls of the young, but begin to show parental behavior even before the chicks hatch. These data suggest that natural selection may be acting on cooperative breeding in Aphelocoma jays and New World jays in general because the birds are reacting to more than just an environmental stimulus. Studies have also been done on Florida scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) and results have confirmed the hypothesis that increased prolactin levels are correlated with an increase in parental behavior in helper birds.[7] Scrub jays are members of the family Corvidae, which are considered the most intelligent of the birds and among the most intelligent of all animals.[8]

Aphelocoma jays are quite vocal and have a huge range of sounds and calls; common calls include a cheek, cheek, cheek and a guttural churring krr'r'r'r'r. Aphelocoma jays are also, like all other jays, often quite aggressive, antagonistic at feeding areas and sometimes regarded as a nuisance.

Notes

  1. ^ from Latinized Ancient Greek apheles- (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin coma (from Greek kome κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays

References

  1. ^ "Corvidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Ericson, Per G. P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S.; Ekman, Jan (2005). "Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data" (PDF). Journal of Avian Biology. 36 (3): 222–234. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.493.5531. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x.
  3. ^ Emslie, Steven D. (1996). "A fossil Scrub Jay supports a recent systematic decision" (PDF). Condor. 98 (4): 675–680. doi:10.2307/1369850. JSTOR 1369850.
  4. ^ a b c d Rice, Nathan H; Martínez-Meyer, Enrique; Peterson, A Townsend (2003). "Ecological niche differentiation in the Aphelocoma jays: a phylogenetic perspective". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 80 (3): 369–383. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8312.2003.00242.x.
  5. ^ Bonaccorso, E.; Peterson, A.T. (2007). "A multilocus phylogeny of New World jay genera". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42 (2): 467–476. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.06.025. PMID 16971144.
  6. ^ a b Brown, J.L.; Vleck, C.M. (1998). "Prolactin and helping in birds: has natural selection strengthened helping behavior?". Behavioral Ecology. 9 (6): 541–545. doi:10.1093/beheco/9.6.541.
  7. ^ Schoech, S.J. (1998). "Physiology of helping in florida scrub-jays" (PDF). American Scientist. 86 (1): 70–77. Bibcode:1998AmSci..86...70S. doi:10.1511/1998.1.70. S2CID 227267138.
  8. ^ Prior, Helmut; Schwarz, Ariane; Güntürkün, Onur (August 2008). De Waal, Frans (ed.). "Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie (Pica pica): Evidence of Self-Recognition". PLOS Biology. 6 (8): e202. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060202. PMC 2517622. PMID 18715117.

External links

  • Data related to Aphelocoma at Wikispecies
Search categoriesSkip PDFs • View other tools
Help
  • Phrases in double quotes: For example, "holly dolly" returns very few results as opposed to holly dolly.
  • Exclusion: Terms can be excluded with -, for example windows -system (note there is no space between "-" and the excluded term).
  • Wildcard search: Wildcards (symbols representing unknown text) can be prefixed and suffixed, for example, the search *stan will produce results like Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.
For more details, including fuzzy search, Boolean operators, and keywords intitle:, incategory: and prefix:, see Search Help on English Wikipedia.
Browse
Search

Create the page "Scrub Jay" on this wiki!

View (previous 20 | next 20) (20 | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500)
  • Thumbnail for File:Wildlife Photography - Deer and Scrub Jay (KSC-20210615-PH-JBS01 0001).jpg
    Scrub-Jay perches on the back of a white-tailed deer in the woods at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 15, 2021. The Florida Scrub-Jay is...
    (1,610 × 1,144 (1.93 MB)) - 22:47, 17 October 2023
  • Thumbnail for File:Florida Scrub Jay.jpg
    en.wikipedia. 2006-03-10 00:15 Mwanner 887×725× (231075 bytes) Florida Scrub Jay, [[Blue Springs State Park]], Orange City, Florida. Taken by [[User:Mwanner]]...
    (887 × 725 (226 KB)) - 16:10, 30 March 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Western Scrub-jay at the San Francisco Botanical Garden - Sarah Stierch.jpg
    Commons Attribution 4.0 truetrue English Aphelocoma californica (Western Scrub-jay) at the San Francisco Botanical Garden URL: https://commons.wikimedia...
    (3,001 × 4,500 (5.47 MB)) - 20:39, 8 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Western Scrub Jay at the San Francisco Botanical Garden - Sarah Stierch - C.jpg
    0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 truetrue English Juvenile Western Scrub-jay. San Francisco Botanical Garden. URL: https://commons.wikimedia...
    (4,861 × 3,472 (7.61 MB)) - 20:39, 8 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Florida Scrub-Jay (7015977231).jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 truetrue 10 November 2021 English A Florida scrub jay (aphelocoma coerulescens) in the Oscar Scherer State Park, Florida, USA...
    (3,807 × 3,046 (5.25 MB)) - 13:09, 18 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Florida Scrub-Jay perched.jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English A Florida Scrub Jay explores its surroundings object has role: photographer author name string:...
    (4,319 × 2,882 (7.5 MB)) - 13:09, 18 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Creative Photography - Scrub Jay (KSC-20210107-PH-JBS02 0050).jpg
    English A Florida scrub jay flies over shrubbery at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife...
    (6,720 × 4,480 (24.86 MB)) - 18:15, 27 March 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Island Scrub Jay Aphelocoma insularis.jpg
    wikipedia. 2011-01-28 19:56 Devonpike 704×1056× (217613 bytes) Island Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma insularis) photographed by Devon Pike in January 2011 on Santa...
    (704 × 1,056 (213 KB)) - 17:50, 15 September 2020
  • Thumbnail for File:Creative Photography, Wildlife - Scrub Jay (KSC-20210108-PH-JBS01 0020).jpg
    English A Florida Scrub-Jay flies near a tree at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 8, 2021. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island...
    (6,720 × 4,480 (20.83 MB)) - 18:15, 27 March 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Creative Photography, Wildlife - Scrub Jay (KSC-20210108-PH-JBS01 0022).jpg
    English A Florida Scrub-Jay perches on the branch of a tree at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 8, 2021. The center shares a border with...
    (6,720 × 4,480 (23.28 MB)) - 18:15, 27 March 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Creative Photography, Wildlife - Scrub Jay (KSC-20210108-PH-JBS01 0002).jpg
    English A Florida Scrub-Jay perches on the branch of a tree at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 8, 2021. The center shares a border with...
    (6,720 × 4,480 (19.23 MB)) - 18:15, 27 March 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Creative Photography, Wildlife - Scrub Jay (KSC-20210108-PH-JBS01 0005).jpg
    English A Florida Scrub-Jay flies near a tree at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 8, 2021. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island...
    (6,720 × 4,480 (18.96 MB)) - 18:15, 27 March 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:California Scrub Jay 9301Abb.jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/user:VJAnderson...
    (4,955 × 3,369 (2.97 MB)) - 05:50, 27 January 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Foraging Scrub Jay.jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English A California scrub jay forages on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland. Wikimedia username: Eohman12...
    (1,727 × 1,382 (943 KB)) - 12:57, 10 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:California Scrub Jay 9119vv.jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) Wikimedia username: VJAnderson author name string:...
    (2,769 × 2,162 (4.1 MB)) - 05:50, 27 January 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:California Scrub Jay.jpg
    Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English A California scrub jay at a birdfeeder. Wikimedia username: WolfireX author name string: WolfireX...
    (4,608 × 3,456 (3.92 MB)) - 05:49, 27 January 2024
  • Thumbnail for File:Floridascrubjay92lg.web.jpg
    Transwiki approved by: w:en:User:Dmcdevit This image was copied from wikipedia:en. The original description was: Fl Scrub Jay pub domain from BLM...
    (397 × 348 (23 KB)) - 08:15, 9 September 2017
  • names [edit wikidata 'Florida Scrub Jay'] English: Florida Scrub Jay, Florida Jay, Florida Scrub-jay, Florida Scrub-Jay مصرى: فلوريدا سكراب جاى български: Храстова...
    1 KB (213 words) - 14:01, 25 April 2022
  • Thumbnail for File:Aphelocoma californica1.jpg
    Description: Woodhouse's Scrub Jay Aphelocoma woodhouseii (syn. A. californica woodhouseii) URL: National Park Service Licence: English determination...
    (400 × 380 (25 KB)) - 02:27, 9 September 2023
  • (Vigors, 1839) Vernacular names [edit wikidata 'California Scrub Jay'] English: California Scrub Jay català: Gaig de bardissa de Califòrnia čeština: sojka...
    2 KB (332 words) - 03:38, 2 May 2018
View (previous 20 | next 20) (20 | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500)
Categories
Table of Contents