Florida Scrub Jays

I took the footage this morning, Oct 22, 2010, of the resident Florida Scrub Jay family living in our area. The bird with the Yellow leg band is the alpha male. We named him Larry a few years back. His former mate, Linda, paired up with Gus (another male that used to 'own' this area -- these birds are extremely territorial) after his mate, Gertie, was probably killed during the hurricane season four years ago. Gus was about 10 years old when he disappeared (died most likely). Well, Larry, being a single male, not only got Linda back, but he took over Gus' territory. Then in the summer of '08, Linda disappeared, leaving Larry single once again.

He was still single in March '10, and when I was here in June '10 for two weeks, Larry was nowhere to be found. Little did I know it, but Larry had found a NEW mate and was too busy with his parenting duties to visit here. When we arrived here in Sept., he showed up, along with two other birds. One was not banded, and after hearing it 'cluck' (something only the females do), we knew it was his mate. We named her Lucille. I assumed the third bird (the one with the red leg band) was an offspring due to the newness of the bands. We have yet to hear it cluck, so we are assuming it is a male...hence the name 'Lewis".

The birds (FL Scrub Jays) are very people-friendly, often taking food from them. Most folks feed them peanuts (raw and unsalted) in the shell, which they take and bury for later consumption, however, they prefer high-protein foods such as the meal worms I am feeding them in this footage. They appear at the back door several times a day, squawking loudly, 'begging' for a handout, but I only give them meal worms during the early morning visit. They also take seed from the two bird feeders we have in the back yard, moreso during the winter than the rest of the year when insects are readily available.

The bird is only found in certain areas of FL. Their native habitat, the FL Scrub, is slowly disappearing due to urban sprawl, and when the scrub is gone, so will be the birds.

There is also a Western Scrub Jay that lives in the Western desert area. It is probably a distant cousin of the FL Scrub Jay.

Enjoy..........

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• birds
• Scrub
• Jays
• florida
• wildlife

[cheesygoodness55]

You are so LUCKY!!!!!!  :D

[writer46]

@cheesygoodness55 I agree. It is wonderful to walk outside each day and have them come to us. It is a shame they are endangered due to habitat loss. The FL scrub must be saved or we will lose the Scrub Jay.

[dowserus]

I bet they taste good too...

[writer46]

@dowserus Only to you GA boys. LOL

[SeanWrenn]

Great video!

[writer46]

@SeanWrenn Thanks.

[ke4cpc]

Very nice hand-held video of this specimen. Thank you for sharing! I miss our scrub jays.

[writer46]

@modeling4Fashion, it is almost instinctual. More than likely, it is a trait they learn from their parents. Even so, it sometimes takes a fledgling several weeks before they will take food from a human.

[modeling4Fashion]

How did you gett the birds to trust you?