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Open Search Bird GuideCrows, Magpies, JaysCalifornia Scrub-Jay California Scrub-Jay Adult.Photo:Jerry McFarland/ Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:Alan Schmierer/Flickr (CC-BY-PUBLIC-DOMAIN)Adult.Photo:J Maughn/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:J Maughn/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:J Maughn/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:Mathesont/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:Jerry McFarland/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)Adult.Photo:Lou Orr/Great Backyard Bird Count California Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica At a Glance Range & Identification Behavior Conservation Explore More Back to Top
Mostly a permanent resident. May disperse some distance in winter, especially in dry years when the oaks produce poor acorn crops.
Description
11-13" (28-33 cm). White throat bordered by streaked necklace; gray back contrasts with blue head, wings, and tail. Size About the size of a Crow, About the size of a Robin Color Blue, Brown, Gray, White Wing Shape Broad, Rounded Tail Shape Long, Rounded, Wedge-shaped
Songs and Calls
Call is loud, throaty jayy? or jree? In flight, a long series of check-check-check notes. Call Pattern Flat, Rising Call Type Buzz, Rattle, Raucous, Trill
Habitat
Oak woodland, oak scrub, riverside woods, and foothill forests of pinyon pine. Often very common in well-wooded suburbs and parks. Sign up for Audubon's newsletter to learn more about birds like the California Scrub-Jay Email Zip Phone (optional) By submitting my mobile number I agree to receive text messages from Audubon at 42248 about how I can help birds, including donation requests. Up to 4 msgs/month. Message and data rates may apply. Text HELP for more information. Text STOP to stop receiving messages. Read our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Behavior
Eggs
3-5, sometimes 2-7. Usually light green, spotted with olive or brown; sometimes paler gray or green with large reddish-brown spots. Incubation is by female, about 17-18 days. Male sometimes feeds female during incubation.
Young
Fed by both parents. Young leave the nest about 18-22 days after hatching, but are tended to and fed by the adults for at least another month. Typically one brood per year, occasionally two.
Feeding Behavior
Forages on the ground and in trees, singly or in family units during breeding season, sometimes in flocks at other seasons. Often harvests acorns and buries them, perhaps to retrieve them later.
Diet
Omnivorous. Diet varies with season. Eats a wide variety of insects, especially in summer, as well as a few spiders and snails. Moth caterpillars make up a major percentage of the items fed to the young. Winter diet may be mostly acorns and other seeds, nuts, and berries. Also eats some rodents, eggs and young of other birds, and small reptiles and amphibians.
Nesting
Unlike the Florida Scrub-Jay and Mexican Jay, this species breeds in isolated pairs, not cooperative flocks. Pairs typically stay together all year on their permanent territory. Nest site is in a shrub or tree, usually fairly low, 5-15’ above the ground, but sometimes higher. Nest (built by both sexes) is a well-built, thick-walled cup of twigs and grass, lined with rootlets and sometimes with animal hair.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Healthy population overall, and increasing in recent years in northern part of range. Change in Abundance Over Time Drawing on more than a century of community science from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), this chart shows how this species’ relative abundance has shifted in recent decades. Explore more and get involved in the CBC.
Climate Map
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect the range of the California Scrub-Jay. Learn even more in Audubon’s Survival By Degrees project.
Climate Threats Facing the California Scrub-Jay
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
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Murals, Art, and Culture
Artists throughout history and across the U.S. have captured this bird in murals, books, and museum hangings. See what they’ve done: ¡Atención!
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California Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica At a Glance Range & Identification Behavior Conservation Explore More Back to Top 
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