The “blue jay” of dry lowlands from Nevada south to Mexico, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay is a dusty blue bird set off by gray-brown and white. It looks very similar to the California Scrub-Jay (they were considered the same species until 2016), but it's a dimmer blue and dingier gray, with almost no necklace, a straighter bill, and higher-pitched calls. The bird's rounded, crestless head immediately sets it apart from Blue Jays and Steller’s Jays. These birds are a fixture of dry shrublands and woodlands of pinyon pine and juniper.
Keys to identification Help
Crows and Jays-like Typical Voice
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Keys to identification Help
Crows and Jays-like
Typical Voice
Crows and Jays-like
Typical Voice
- Size & Shape
- A fairly large, lanky songbird with long, floppy tail and an often hunched-over posture. The bill is fairly long and straight, with a pointed tip.
- A fairly large, lanky songbird with long, floppy tail and an often hunched-over posture. The bill is fairly long and straight, with a pointed tip.
- Color Pattern
- Light blue and gray above, with a whitish throat and grayish belly separated by an indistinct, partial breast band of blue. In birds, the color blue depends on lighting, so Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays can look simply dark.
- Light blue and gray above, with a whitish throat and grayish belly separated by an indistinct, partial breast band of blue. In birds, the color blue depends on lighting, so Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays can look simply dark.
- Behavior
- Assertive, vocal, and inquisitive. You’ll often notice scrub-jays silhouetted high in trees, on wires, or on posts where they act as lookouts. In flight seems underpowered and slow, with bouts of fluttering alternating with glides.
- Assertive, vocal, and inquisitive. You’ll often notice scrub-jays silhouetted high in trees, on wires, or on posts where they act as lookouts. In flight seems underpowered and slow, with bouts of fluttering alternating with glides.
- Habitat
- Look for Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in open habitats and pinyon-juniper woodlands of the intermountain West; also backyards and pastures. Typically, though not always, in lower and drier habitats than Steller’s Jay.
- Look for Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in open habitats and pinyon-juniper woodlands of the intermountain West; also backyards and pastures. Typically, though not always, in lower and drier habitats than Steller’s Jay.
CallsWoodhouse's Scrub-Jays are extremely vocal. Behaviorists have described more than 20 separate types of calls for this and the closely related California Scrub-Jay. Examples include a weep uttered during flight, while carrying nesting material, or while taking cover from a flying predator; a bell-like shlenk used antagonistically, a quiet kuk exchanged between mates, and loud, rasping scolds for mobbing predators.