Avise's Birds of the World

Florida Scrub Jay
Aphelocoma coerulescens

Native Range: North America

Notes: confined to central Forida in the eastern USA; nearly identical in plumage to Western Scrub Jay, but differs in its social behavior, with offspring from prior broods often becoming "helpers at the nest" and giving assistance to their parents in rearing subsequent broods; a son sometimes inherits his father's territory upon the latter's death; daughters, by contrast typically disperse away from their natal sites; this species breeds only in the ancient sandy hills (former Pleistocene beaches) of Florida's central interior; suitable territories seem to be a limiting resource for this species and hence are nearly saturated with occupants.