[obol] Re: Western Scrub Jay range size, longevity
- From: Rob Conway <robin_birder@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx" <jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx>, obol <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 19 May 2013 07:10:22 +0000
Daniel,
I think 10 years and a small dispersal area are likely normal. When I was a
teenager in the Sierra Footills near Mariposa/Yosemite there was a 2 toed
Western Scrub Jay that I first recorde on January 1, 1969 and last saw on July
19, 1980 - 11 years, 5 months 18 days. The bird would eat from the dog and cat
dry food bowls almost daily and bathed in the sprinkers and the birdbath we set
up to bring in wildlife. I think a good food source and a lucky thinning of
birds at the right time allows youngsters to stick around.
There is a family of Northern Pygmy Owls that has occupied the same territory
very near the ranch house from 1970 and is still going strong - generations
later. We see them regularly as they stalk the birdbath regularly for an easy
kill by just hanging out in a young Ponderosa Pine.
Robin
Rob Conway
Camas, WA
45.58°N 122.44°W - elevation 310 ft.
robin_birder@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 18 May 2013 14:41:42 -0700
Subject: [obol] Western Scrub Jay range size, longevity
From: jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
OBOL,
As some of you may know, I used to operate a MAPS banding station at Fern
Ridge wildlife area. Today I got an interesting band recovery from the very
first Western Scrub Jay that we captured there. The Jay was initially banded
on July 14, 2004 and was recovered May 12, 2013. That makes it 2 months shy of
9 years old. Not too shabby for a Jay. The banding lab lists 15 and 11 years
as the two oldest on record.
Interestingly this bird was recovered a mere quarter mile from where it was
initially banded. It was banded as a juvenile. Did it not disperse? Or was
the banding station the final destination of the dispersal? The area is loaded
with Garry Oak, so it makes sense it would stay there, but it is interesting to
think about when it got there and how far it traveled, if at all, to get there.
Daniel Farrar
Dunes City, Oregon
jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx
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