Pinyon Jay

Pinyon jay Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus
Identification Tips:
Length: 9 inches
Long, pointed bill
Grayish-blue plumage
Short tail ...

Pinyon Jay
Nestling
Similar Species
Mexican Jay has longer tail, shorter bill, and less blue on chest.

Pinyon Jay ( Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus )
Pinyon Jay, Cabin Lake Viewing Blinds, Deschutes National Forest, Near Fort Rock, Oregon
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details) ...

Pinyon jays live in large flocks that can have as many as 500 birds. A pinyon jay may spend its entire life in the flock it was born into. The pinyon jay population varies depending on the availability of pinyon pine seeds.

Pinyon Jay
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Pinyon Jays are distributed primarily through the Great Basin of the west-central United States. Some birds disperse farther into the interior. Although the population overall is considered stable, numbers fluctuate drastically from year to year.

Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus Cyanocephalus)
Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica) ...

Pinyon jays appear to be highly adaptive. For example, a study conducted by Marzluff [88] concluded that pinyon jays learned to modify their nest site location based on prior experience.

See mule deer browsing in the foothills, elk and pronghorn moving across the grasslands, pinyon jays and Clark's nutcrackers chattering in the forest, and golden eagles flying overhead.

Pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus)
Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora)
Florida sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi)
Providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri)
Elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis)
Oma'o (Myadestes obscurus)
O'u (Psittirostra psittacea) ...

Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus
Clark's Nutcracker, Nucifraga columbiana
Black-billed Magpie, Pica hudsonia
Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli
Eurasian Jackdaw, Corvus monedula (C)
American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos ...

The breast is also white or grey-white and the back is a grey-brown contrasting with the bright blue tail and wings in most species. One species, Unicolored Jay, is blue all over, superficially similar to the Pinyon Jay from much further north.

The Pinyon Jay: Behavioral Ecology of a Colonial and Cooperative Corvid, by J. Marzluff and R. Balda
The Annual Variation of Daily Energy Expenditure by the Black-billed Magpie: A Study of Thermal and Behavioural Energetics, by John N.

See also: Jay, Scrub-Jay, Robin, Western Scrub-Jay, Blue Jay