by Jim Strong  

This bird is very entertaining for me each morning as I fill my variety of feeders. A pair of Western Scrub-Jays are usually near by or in the trees waiting for a few welfare peanuts (in the shell). If I do not share the peanuts quickly they let me know in a hurry....such selfishness! They can really be noisy. We have not had them brave enough to take a peanut from our hand but that may change. I made a mistake one morning and left the peanut can near the feeders and it did not take the Jays long to empty the 100 or so peanuts. They bury them in my yard and the neighbors yard maintaining a long term food supply. Since they do store seeds and nuts its likely they serve as a major distributor of seeds of oaks and pines by not returning to eat them or possibly forgetting where all of the seeds were hidden. They do have remarkable memories for their food storage program. Recent research has suggested that Western Scrub Jays are among the most intelligent of animals. However they are not above stealing the nut caches of other jays and some woodpeckers.

Description: Blue head with a thin white eyebrow and no crest. The throat is white with a blue streaked necklace. The back is gray with a dark gray saddle, blue band on the chest with whitish and grayish under parts. The legs, feet and bill are black.

The Scrub Jay is a tame bird especially around picnic areas, parks and feeders and very approachable for the photographer. Pairs of jays form long term bonds and the young may stay with the parents for as long a two years and assist their parents with other nestlings the following year.

Male and female are colored alike and the juveniles are similar to the adults.
Nest: cup type built by both sexes and 1 brood per year.
Habitat: Variety of habitats, including brushy open country, desert scrub, orchards and canyons.
Eggs: 2 - 6 pale green or gray with reddish brown markings.
Incubation: 15 - 17 days by the female and fed by the male.
Fledging: Altricial young are naked, helpless with eyes closed and fledge within 19 days.
Life span in the wild: Approximately 9 years
Food: They are opportunistic feeders that have a varied diet of insects, seeds, mice, frogs, berries
     fruits, acorns, eggs and nestlings of other birds. They will visit areas around seed feeders.
Size: 11 inches, wingspan 16 inches, weight 2.8 ounces
Migration: Non migratory

Sources:
Smithsonian BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA by Fred J. Alsop III
FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS By Donald and Lillian Stokes (Western Region)
BACKYARD BIRDS OF UTAH by Bill Fenimore
BIRDS OF UTAH BY (field guide) by Stan Tekiela
WIKKIPEDIA (computer)

Field Trip Reports
 

  
19th and 20th of April,  2019

Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge
 
Report and Photos by Keeli Marvel
   

Nine birders met on a beautiful Friday evening to make the trek out to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. We made a couple stops along the way to check out LONG-BILLED CURLEWS south of the Dugway Proving Ground gate and then a quick stop at Simpson Springs. It was a fairly quiet evening but we saw 6 or 7 curlews in all along the way. Once we got settled in at Fish Springs we went out for a moonlight walk, however, it was a pretty quiet night.

The next morning we started the tour of the refuge by picking up a few birds around the housing area. There were YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, WESTERN KINGBIRDS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS and a few folks in our group saw a SAGEBRUSH SPARROW between housing and the picnic area. At the picnic area we had a FOY LAZULI BUNTING, more butter butts, a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, and more cowbirds.

The rest of the field trip we drove all the way out and around the waterfowl management units, winding our way back along the dike roads between them. We saw a ton of waterfowl, including several FOYs for many of us. We dipped out on bitterns (except for one audible from the bunkhouse) and snowy plover, but highlights included BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS, FORSTER’S AND CASPIAN TERNS, FRANKLIN’S GULLS, SNOWY EGRETS, one lonely WILSON’S PHALAROPE, SANDHILL CRANES, a PRAIRIE FALCON, WHITE-FACED IBIS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, a plethora of SAVANNAH SPARROWS, MARSH WRENS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and most of the expected species of ducks.

White-faced Ibis flock