"Brainy and Beautiful" The California Scrub Jay
The California scrub jay is a beautiful species of scrub jay native to North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada. It was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the western scrub jay. 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. They usually forage in pairs, family groups, or small non-kin groups, outside of the breeding season. They feed on small animals, such as frogs and lizards, eggs and the young of other birds, insects, and (particularly in winter) grains, nuts and berries. They will also eat fruit and vegetables growing in backyards and can be hand-fed by humans. California scrub jays, like many other corvids, store 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 fact, recent research has suggested that these beautiful and amazing birds along with other corvids, such as crows, are among the most intelligent of animals. Scrub jays are also the only non-primate or non-dolphin shown to plan ahead for the future. Studies have shown they can remember over 200 food caches, as well as the food item in each cache and its rate of decay. To protect their caches from pilfering, they choose locations out of sight of their competitors, or re-cache caches once they are alone, suggesting that they can take into account the perspective of others. California scrub jays also summon others to screech over the body of a dead jay. The birds' cacophonous "funerals" can last for up to half an hour. (Wikipedia.org)
I captured this stunning beauty at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, a very special little patch of coast in Monterey county in Central California and a breathtakingly beautiful and absolutely amazing place to explore!
I would like to thank everyone for their views, faves and comments! They are truly appreciated... :-)
"Brainy and Beautiful" The California Scrub Jay
The California scrub jay is a beautiful species of scrub jay native to North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada. It was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the western scrub jay. 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. They usually forage in pairs, family groups, or small non-kin groups, outside of the breeding season. They feed on small animals, such as frogs and lizards, eggs and the young of other birds, insects, and (particularly in winter) grains, nuts and berries. They will also eat fruit and vegetables growing in backyards and can be hand-fed by humans. California scrub jays, like many other corvids, store 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 fact, recent research has suggested that these beautiful and amazing birds along with other corvids, such as crows, are among the most intelligent of animals. Scrub jays are also the only non-primate or non-dolphin shown to plan ahead for the future. Studies have shown they can remember over 200 food caches, as well as the food item in each cache and its rate of decay. To protect their caches from pilfering, they choose locations out of sight of their competitors, or re-cache caches once they are alone, suggesting that they can take into account the perspective of others. California scrub jays also summon others to screech over the body of a dead jay. The birds' cacophonous "funerals" can last for up to half an hour. (Wikipedia.org)
I captured this stunning beauty at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, a very special little patch of coast in Monterey county in Central California and a breathtakingly beautiful and absolutely amazing place to explore!
I would like to thank everyone for their views, faves and comments! They are truly appreciated... :-)