Figure 258. Only a few wandering Blue Jays have been detected in California, most of them along the state’s northern coast. One such stray was this first-winter bird, photographed in February 1992 at a feeder at Sea Ranch, Sonoma County (1995-080; Bill Van Schaick).

 

 

 

 

 

BLUE JAY Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Accepted: 11 (79%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 3	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 3	Large color image: see Figure

This jay’s breeding range has spread moderately westward in recent years. Three weakly differentiated subspecies are currently recognized (Phillips 1986, Stevenson and Anderson 1994). The wide range of C. c. bromia extends from eastern British Columbia and western Montana east to Newfoundland and south via a disjunct population in western Montana to north-central Wyoming, where it meets C. c. cyanotephra. The latter is resident south through easternmost New Mexico and from there east into Texas. Subspecies cyanotephra meets C. c. cristata in eastern Texas, and cristata is resident east to southern Virginia and southern Florida. The northernmost populations of bromia are partially migratory and somewhat irruptive, moving mainly to the southern part of the range. Non-breeders regularly wander south and west to Oregon, mostly east of the Cascade Mts., and on occasion such birds have remained to nest as far southwest as northeastern Oregon. Numbers have increased in the Pacific Northwest in recent times, and in eastern Washington the species is numerous enough during rare irruption years to be characterized as uncommon.

The state’s first Blue Jay, a 24 April 1950 specimen from Chico, Butte County, was a male of the most expected subspecies, bromia. This record, and another from Mountain Home Village (then called “Igos”) in San Bernardino County, were treated by McCaskie (1970c). California’s records span the period between 7 October and 24 April; see also Appendix H. During fall and winter 1977/1978, the species staged a modest westward incursion that generated four California records. The Committee originally accepted another record thought to be associated with this event, of a bird heard on 21 October 1977 at the Marin Headlands, Marin County. This decision was later overturned, however, because the bird was never seen and Steller’s Jays can imitate the Blue Jay’s familiar call (Roberson 1993).