Thursday 17 November 2022

California Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)

OTHER NAMES: Western Scrub Jay, Scrub Jay
Latin Etymology: Aphelocoma ("simple hair") californica ("of California")

Adult California Scrub Jay (subspecies A. c. oocleptica) at Berkeley, California - August 2022

Featured Subspecies: Aphelocoma californica oocleptica
Weight: 70-100g  /  Length: 27-31cm  /  Wingspan: 38-40cm
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A dash of bright blue from the trees was usually what I saw of this species - noisy and ubiquitous, it is nonetheless generally a fairly shy species by the standards of corvids, rarely giving me a good look at the brilliant plumage. They are known to cache food for winter, and can remember the location of over 200 such locations.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Aphelocoma
SUBSPECIES: A. c. immanis, A. c. caurina, A. c. oocleptica, A. c. californica, A. c. obscura, A. c. cana, A. c. cactophila, A. c. hypoleuca

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 

Washington, Oregon and Colorado
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Roy's RedwoodsSan Jose, San Francisco and Berkeley

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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