Aphelocoma woodhouseii

A crestless jay with a blue head, thin white eyebrow line, blue wings, long blue tail, whitish throat bordered by a streaked blue-gray breast band, and a bluish-gray or pale brownish back; juveniles are grayish above, with blue on the wings and tail; brightness and contrast of plumage varies geographically, with birds of interior populations duller overall and with less color contrast and a less conspicuous breast band (NGS 1983, Peterson 1990). Bill shape varies with habitat and available foods (short hooked bill in oak woodlands, long pointed bill in pinyon-juniper woodlands) (Peteron 1993). See Kaufman (1990) for detailed information on identification of scrub and gray-breasted jays.

Gray-breasted (Mexican) jay is grayer, lacks strong contrast between throat and breast, lacks white eyebrow. Pinyon jay is more uniformly blue and has a blue throat with white streaks; scrub-jay's tail is much longer than that of the pinyon jay.

Scrub (especially oak, pinyon and juniper), brush, chaparral and pine-oak associations; also riparian woodland, gardens, orchards, mangroves (southern Baja California), and tropical deciduous forest (southern Mexico) (Subtropical and Temperate zones, upper Tropical Zone in southern Mexico) (AOU 1983, 1995). Nests usually in low trees or shrubs, 0.5-3.5 m above ground (Terres 1980).

Travels alone or in small family groups. In Oaxaca, Mexico, occurred in temporally stable groups of 2-6 adults; territories averaged 1.5 ha (Burt and Peterson 1993). In coastal California, territories averaged "about 3 ha" (Verbeek 1973), and in New Mexico, a single territory measured 2.1 ha (Hardy 1961).

In Oaxaca, Mexico, nested at least from early April to late July (Burt and Peterson 1993). Clutch size is 2-7 (usually 4-6; 3 in Oaxaca, with reduction to 2 fledglings typical). Incubation lasts about 16 days, by female. Young are tended by parents and (in Oaxaca) young of previous brood. Young leave nest at about 18 days. First breeds as early as 1 year in some areas. Long-term pair bond. High adult survivorship. Breeds only in pairs in most of range (except southern end of range in Mexico). In Oaxaca, helpers aided in predator defense, territorial defense, and feeding fledglings; singular breeding was the norm (Burt and Peterson 1993).