Florida Scrub Jay

Length: 11 in.
Diet: Acorns, seeds and berries primarily, some insects, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals.
Breeding Habitat: Successional - scrub.
Clutch Size: 3-4
Voice: Song: trills and high warbles.

These birds are about a foot long from head to tail and mostly blue, like blue jays. They have a light gray forehead and white throat. Their crestless head is blue, and so are their wings and long, loose, tail feathers. Their beak and legs are black, and their back and leg feathers are gray. Young ones, less than 6 months old, have a brownish head and neck.

The Florida Scrub Jay is a highly sought after bird for bird watchers as it is only found in Florida and then in only small areas in the state that have dry, sandy soil with oak scrub trees. Listed as a threatened species because their habitat is being removed for development. The largest numbers being found in Ocala Natl. Forest.

The Florida Scrub Jay practices cooperative breeding in which adults that are unable to obtain a breeding territory help raise the young of other adults rather than breed themselves.

Field Notes: Curious and intelligent. Slightly smaller and relatively longer-tailed than the Blue Jay; uncrested and without white on wings and tail. Smaller and longer tailed than Western but no range overlap.
Florida scrub jays have a varied diet. Acorns are their favorite -- eaten all year long, especially during winter when insects, their next favorite meal, are scarce. They gather and bury thousands of acorns they can feed on any time. They also prey on spiders and lizards, and young frogs, snakes and mice. But without live food, they are content pecking on berries, sunflower seeds, corn and peanuts