BLUE BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Aphelocoma Woodhouseii 

Adults are light blue and gray above, with a whitish throat, grayish belly and a thin partial breast band of pale blue.

Juveniles are similar to the adults but have a grayer head.

BILL: black and stout.

SIZE: medium-sized, measuring approximately about 11 - 12 inches in length (including tail), with a wingspan of 15 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 80 grams.

COLOR: blue, gray, white and black.

Insects and fruit during spring and summer, and nuts and seeds during fall and winter. Also, eat small animals such as lizards and nestling birds.

Open habitats and pinyon-juniper woodlands of the intermountain West; also backyards and pastures.

Western North America, ranging from southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho to central Mexico.

CALL: Utters a variety of rather harsh-sounding calls.

SONG: Both males and females sing a soft medley of sweet notes that can last up to 5 minutes. They typically do this only during courtship and when the pair is close together.

NEST: The male and female build a basket of twigs lined with rootlets, fine strands of plant fibers, and livestock hair.

EGGS: 1 - 5 pale green eggs, blotched with olive, or pale gray spotted with brown.

INCUBATION: 17 - 19 days, female fed by the male.

NESTLING PHASE: 17 - 19 days.

They are assertive, vocal, and inquisitive. Often silhouetted high in trees, on wires, or on posts where they act as lookouts. They seem underpowered and slow, with bouts of fluttering alternating with glides during flight.

SOURCES:
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
https://www.sdakotabirds.com