The same holds true for Mexican Jay, which exists in two discreet
populations. I think they may exhibit behavioral differences between east
and west groups. THe Florida Scrub-Jay has declined drastically in response
to suburbanization of its range, while the California Scrub-Jay has
colonized British Columbia thanks to its comensal habits. Lars
On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 7:14 PM, Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I think there is some talk that the Texas form of Woodhouse's Jay may also
be sufficiently different to eventually warrant a split ... an interesting
(and slightly confusing) situation!
Cheers
Hendrik
On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 6:09 PM, Laura Paulson <laura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I am finding the discussion of Woodhouse Jay's being "retiring"
interesting. I would not have used that adjective to describe the Scrub
Jays that frequented my former home in the Texas Hill Country. We would
often have a gang of them and they were noisy. We had both Scrub and Blue
Jays at our semi-rural, semi residential feeders. I was told by local
birders when I first moved there that they wouldn't be together, that when
Blue Jays moved into an area it was a sign of increasing urbanization and
that Scrub Jays would move out. This did not prove to be true, at least
during the five years I had property there. We seemed to be in a fringe
area where the species co-existed.
On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 8:37 AM, Jeff Harding <jeffharding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:
You all had quite a conversation about jays last week, but I was too
busy to respond. I write now just to emphasize how retiring Woodhouse’s
Jays are, as Joel and others have said.
I thought I had seen a Woodhouse’s Jay east of Adel, Lake County May 28,
2007, but I just looked again at the photographs, and it looks more like
the coastal form, just as we see at Picture Rock Pass and here in the
Willamette Valley. Here is a poor photo from that day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffharding/27729204784/
The blue breast band is distinct, and the undertail coverts are white.
It seemed to me at the time that the habitat was good for the interior
form, across the valley and up into the juniper-clad hills to the east,
Greaser Canyon on the map. Perhaps the fact that the bird is in the open on
top of a tree is significant, because Woodhouse’s Jay is more reticent than
that.
Here is a photo of Woodhose’s Jay from southern Nevada July 13, 2013:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffharding/28236134291/in/photolist-K28yZz
The photo is dark, but field marks are there. The bird was very
difficult to get in the viewfinder at all. They’re retiring; a lot
different from our bold species in Western Oregon.
We spent last week deep in Woodhouse’s Jay country, at The Ghost Ranch,
north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Birding the whole time, often in good
pinyon – Juniper habitat, we only found Woodhouse’s Jay once at the Ghost
Ranch. It was on the last day when we heard one, possibly more, about 50
yards out in a small dry drainage. When we walked over, they were not to be
seen. Other birds there were Juniper Titmouse, Cassin’s Kingbird, Gray
Vireo, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, among others. We had visited the
drainage on other occasions without detecting the jays. The place was close
enough to the lodging and dining areas, had they been our boisterous
coastal-form birds, we would have heard them daily. On another occasion,
away from The Ghost Ranch, on the Rio Chama, we ran into a small family
group of Woodhouse’s Jays. I tried to photograph them, but they would not
cooperate, instead sneaking way through the scattered pinyon pines and
junipers. They didn’t call at all.
Good birding,
Jeff
--
__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR
*"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home." -- Gary Snyder*
