Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Gallery

Aphelocoma woodhouseii

eBird gives this description of the Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay:  Attractive jay of oak woodlands and piñon-juniper forests. Royal blue above with gray-brown back and dirty grayish underparts. Flight style is often distinctive, a series of quick wingbeats followed by a stiff glide. Typically in small groups. Listen for their scratchy, nasal calls. Regularly visits backyards and feeders. Western Scrub-Jay was split into two species: Woodhouse’s and California Scrub-Jay. California Scrub-Jay, which is brighter and more contrasty is found west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada.  All About Birds gives this additional descriptive information about the Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay:  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.

I saw my first Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay at Kickapoo Cavern State Park on the morning of August 30, 2020.  This bird stuck around for a little while at the blind, allowing me to get some decent pictures.  I also watched this bird at two other locations I visited on the same trip, namely, Davis Mountains State Park and South Llano River State Park.  At each of these sites I saw multiple birds and got good looks at them over a considerable period of time…great stuff!