If you read the 1953 edition of Birds of Washington (Jewett, Taylor, and
Shaw, and Aldrich), you'll see a number of accounts indicating that Scrub
Jays were present, and breeding, in extreme southwestern Washington during
the 1800s. Places like Kalama, Ridgefield, and the mouth of the Columbia
River are mentioned. The northward expansion that brought them to the
Olympia area has been much more recent. I suspect the newest edition of
Birds of Washington would provide some detail. I haven't looked there yet.
It seems like it was the mid to late 1980s when they became regularly
observed breeders around Olympia.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Michael
Brown
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 8:46 PM
To: tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Western Scrub Jays range expansion-RFI

Hi,

Can someone refer me to a good source of information about the northward
range expansion of the Western Scrub Jay? Has the species always been found
north of the Columbia? Or is that a relatively recent development?

Thanks,

--
Michael Brown
Puyallup, Washington

"...I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of
what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"

-Aldo Leopold, " A Sand County Almanac"