RESIDENT SCRUB JAY

 

             A resident Scrub Jay stops by several times a day at the glass door off the patio waiting for peanut treats.  It just grabs a peanut from my fingertips with a quick swoop and returns several times for more.  Often it buries the peanut nearby for a later snack.  They have a complex memory to recover hidden caches.

            The California Scrub Jay is a sub species of the Western Jay and is common in coastal urban areas.  It is patterned with blue, white and gray. It is not migratory.  The average life span in the wild is about 7 years.  They eat grains, berries, nuts, fruits , vegetables and even small lizards.

            They mate for life.  Nests are built in low trees or bushes with a diameter of 13-23 inches.   4-6 eggs are laid from March through July.

            Scrub Jays are among the most intelligent of animals.  The are the only non-primate that plans for the future.  They can remember the locations of over 200 food caches and the food item in each. They can summon others to screech over the body of a dead jay “funeral” for up to half an hour.