MORE ON BLUE JAYS

Shortly after I posted the note about the dearth of acorns in the midwest and its possible influence on the Blue Jay irruption into UT, I received this note from Harry Krueger, list-owner of IBLE:

Jim,

I would hazard to guess that this phenomenon has little, if anything, to do with the jays that we are seeing in the west. First, if this scarcity is having an effect, the birds we are seeing would be coming from the east a long distance. Breeding birds to our north are much closer. Second, there is a race of Blue Jay to our east that does not seem to be involved in the present invasion. And finally, birds move in response to food conditions/needs in that area of their residency...obviously they have no way of knowing what conditions are like in another area, such as, in this case, the Midwest.

I think that the "why" answers to our movement of birds is to be found to our north, particularly when one looks at the present distribution of reports.

Harry

He is, of course, correct. A good range map of Blue Jay distribution can be found on the Cornell Lab site:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue_Jay_dtl.html#map

If you have a web accelerator, do NOT use it when viewing this site.

Harry also sent me a range map from BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA showing winter irruptions into Northern UT. However I think reproducing it on BIRDTALK might violate copyright provisions. Incidentally, you can now subscribe online to BNA on the Cornell site for $40 a year. That can save a lot of trips to the U library and parking fees!

Jim McIntyre