Hi Tweets,

The first Western Scrub-Jays that tried to breed in Tacoma that I am aware of, were near the University of Puget Sound, in the Spring of 1999. I watched a pair carrying lots of twigs into my neighbor's thick laurel hedge over the course of a couple of weeks. I continued to watch, but never did see any young birds.

The following year, they moved south a couple of blocks to nest and were successful, as I saw young birds. Ever since this time, there has been a pair that has claimed my block as part of their territory and we were able to locate them for a couple of the Christmas Bird Counts.

On November 12, 2000, I was curious as to how far the jays had expanded. I walked from the University of Puget Sound north to the edge of the bluff (about 30 blocks)and I was able to count 7 individuals.

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma WA
marcus.d.roening at GSK.com
C: 253-988-8313