SEPTEMBER EXTRA 2019 birdsandblooms.com 35
FLORIDA
SCRUB-JAYS
are the only birds
that live exclusively
in Florida.CLEVER AND BRAZEN,
jays belong to the brainy Corvid family. Each species
has its own personality and habits, and all except the
Canada jay are gardeners: They cache seeds and nuts
by shoving them into the soil to retrieve later. Uneaten
caches sprout into new oaks, walnuts, pines and other
trees to keep forests renewed...or to tickle us with an
unexpected cluster of sunflower seedlings.
Nearly all jays are blue, and most are about the size
of a robin. But here’s a surprise for those who only know
blue jays—most species lack a crest. Only blue and
Steller’s jays sport a pointy tuft of head feathers; the
others look more like overgrown bluebirds. They’re all
year-round birds, so stock that feeder, fill the birdbath
and get ready to be entertained by their antics!
BLUE JAY
When a jay screams to signal danger,
other birds instantly flee, which can
save their lives. Everything about
these big, boisterous birds says,
“Notice me!” Unless they don’t want
to be seen, that is. Like all jays, even
loudmouth blue jays are super sneaky
around the nest. Blue jays are the only
migratory jays in North America, but
you’ll still see them year-round; not
all migrate, and others move in when
migrants leave. Common across the
eastern two-thirds of the continent,
they’re expanding westward.STELLER’S JAY
These dark, elegant, long-crested
jays are named for Georg Steller,
naturalist on the 1741 expedition of
Captain Bering, not for their stellar
looks (notice the spellings). Their
range takes over where the blue jay’s
leaves off, from the Rockies to the