On Oct 27, 2025 at 11:36:37, Stephen Elston via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> I am regularly seeing California Scrub Jay in the Greenwood neighborhood

> of Seattle. The Stelars Jays still outnumber them significantly.

>



For better and worse, Scrub Jays are quite good at expanding territory.
Back when I was living in California there was an area I was monitoring
regularly over a number of years, and over about a decade, we saw it go
from being primarily a Stellar's Jay area to Scrub Jay territory with only
a couple of isolated Stellar's families in the deeper wooded areas. I
expect by now the Stellar's have been completely pushed out. Scrub Jays
keep more of a family unit going than Stellar's, which I think gives them
an advantage when competing for territory (much like Northern Mockingbirds
do). The Scrub Jays adapt much more easily to suburban and urban
environments.

Chuq


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Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me)
Silverdale, Washington
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