WILDLIFE SPECIES:  Aphelocoma coerulescens

• Introductory
• Wildlife Distribution and Occurrence
• Biological Data and Habitat Requirements
• Fire Effects and Use
• References

Introductory
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aphelocoma coerulescens



AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Snyder, S. A. 1992. Aphelocoma coerullescens. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences 
Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [].




ABBREVIATION : 
APCO

COMMON NAMES : 
Florida scrub-jay
scrub-jay


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name for the Florida scrub-jay is Aphelocoma
coerulescens (Bosc) [1,3].


ORDER : 
Passeriformes

CLASS : 
Bird

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
See OTHER STATUS

OTHER STATUS : 
The Florida scrub-jay is federally [26] and state- [25] listed as
threatened [24].  

WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aphelocoma coerulescens



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The Florida scrub-jay is restricted to the Florida Panhandle and central Florida.  
The two major populations are at Cape Canaveral/Merritt Island and the Ocala 
National Forest, Florida [9].  


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES12 Longleaf-slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly-shortleaf pine


STATES : 


    
FL
    






BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
None

KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
71 Longleaf pine-scrub oak  		
72 Southern scrub oak     		
73 Southern redcedar    			
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
80 Loblolly pine-shortleaf pine  	
81 Loblolly pine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
None


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
The Florida scrub-jay lives in sand pine (Pinus clausa) communities
with bluestem (Andropogon floridanus) and panic grass (Panicum
patentifolium) understories.  The scrub-jay also inhabits the xeric oak
communities of Florida.  These communities include myrtle oak (Quercus
myrtifolia), Chapman oak (Q. chapmanii), and sand live oak (Q.
virginiana geminata) [21].  

BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aphelocoma coerulescens



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Courtship - As early as January; 
            build communal nests shortly after, from February to June;
            mate for life
Clutch - lay three to five eggs between March and July; will lay 
         one successful clutch per season; 17 days incubation
Maturation - 1 year, but young birds remain with parents for an average
             of 2 years (up to 5 years) to help raise subsequent
             clutches
Lifespan - average of 4.5 years; may live up to 11 years [9,18,21,23]


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Florida scrub-jays prefer dense thickets of sand pine scrub, oak
flatwoods, recently burned sites, and shore dune thickets.  Thickets,
however, must have many open, sandy places for birds to feed [21].
Florida scrub-jays will build nests in myrtle oak, Chapman oak, and
scrub palmetto (Serenoa spp.) but not in dense sand pine.  Florida scrub
jay populations are usually higher in oak cover between 3 and 6 feet
(1-3 m) high.  They will decrease in number with an increase in grass
cover and woody cover (other than oak) that is less than 3 feet (1 m)
high [9].  Scrub-jays tend to build their nests within 1.5 to 7.5 feet
(0.5-2.5 m) of the ground [23].  

COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Florida scrub-jays nest in low, dense thickets of oak or wax myrtle
(Myrica cerifera) [21,23]; some thickets, however, may be too dense for
nesting.  These thickets must be interspersed with sandy openings for
feeding.  Florida scrub-jays rarely use habitats with greater than 50
percent canopy cover [9].  Optimum habitat has been listed as oaks 1.5
to 6 feet (1-3 m) high covering 50 to 75 percent of the home range,
interspersed with bare ground or vegetation less than 5.9 inches (15 cm)
high covering 10 to 30 percent of the home range [9].


FOOD HABITS : 
Florida scrub-jays eat a variety of foods from grains, acorns, fruits, and nuts
to frogs, lizards, arthropods, moths, bees, spiders, turtles, and mice
[2,9,10,18,20].  

PREDATORS : 
The biggest threat to the Florida scrub-jay is habitat destruction by
man [9].  Predators include many species of snake, crows, magpies, and
other jays (Corvids), bobcat (Felis rufus), and the grey fox (Urocyon
cinereoargenteus) [21].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
The Florida scrub-jay does not disperse far from where it hatches.
This can lead to habitat saturation, where no available nesting space
opens for young breeding birds.  Habitat destruction, by the birds
themselves, can result from this overcrowding [9,21].

Clearcut sand pine stands in Florida tend to recover faster than burned
stands; thus, Florida scrub-jays can recolonize clearcut stands more quickly than
burned stands [9].

FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aphelocoma coerulescens



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Fires during the nesting season may destroy Florida scrub-jay nests.


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Fire-destroyed habitat can force Florida scrub-jays to relocate their home
ranges temporarily [21].  However, scrub oaks, when burned, are quick to
resprout, and usually are not replaced by southern pines, which may be
unsuitable for Florida scrub-jay habitat [9].  Fire exclusion from
Florida scrub-jay habitat allows sand pine and other species to become
too dense for bird populations [9].  Too frequent fires can also kill
oaks, which are needed for food and shelter [5]. Fires
on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, also did not
benefit scrub-jay populations [6].  The authors suggested that area
sample sizes may have biased this conclusion.

Florida  scrub-jay populations did not show a significant increase following a
late November prescribed fire in oak/palmetto palm scrub in central
Florida [5].  Florida  scrub-jay densities were higher in the mechanically
cleared oak scrub types than in the burned oak/palmetto types.  However,
the beneficial effects of fire for scrub-jays may take a long time to
become apparent; Florida scrub-jays have been known to decrease in
fire-excluded areas [5].  See Quercus virginiana and other Quercus
write-ups in the FEIS database.


FIRE USE : 
Fire is essential for Florida scrub-jay habitat maintenance.  Some authors have
recommended burning Florida scrub oak stands at the very least every 20
to 30 years, depending on the growth rate of the oak [9].  Fire can be
used to create and maintain stand openings essential for feeding [16].
In addition fires can rejuvenate decadent stands for nesting and food
production.  Cox [9] recommended following these parameters when using
fire as a tool for Florida scrub-jay habitat maintenance:

(1)  leave scrub oaks less than 1.5 feet (1 m) high
(2)  burn oaks over 10.5 feet (3.5 m) high every 3 to 5 years 
     maximum, and 15 to 20 years minimum
(3)  leave adequate habitat while the burned area recovers
(4)  burn in a mosaic to provide dense cover for nesting and
     create open space for feeding
(5)  if burning on a 10-year cycle, then burn 10 percent of the total
     area every year
(6)  if firebreaks are necessary, habitat should be divided into 25- to
     50-acre (10-20 ha) parcels
(7)  if less than 5 percent of the area is bare ground, burn when oaks
     reach 6 to 9 feet (2-3 m) in height; if greater than 15 percent of
     the area is bare ground, burn when oaks reach 9 to 10.5 feet 
     (3-3.5 m) in height

REFERENCES
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aphelocoma coerulescens



REFERENCES : 

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 .  Breininger, D. R.; Schmalzer, P. A. 1990. Effects of fire and
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 .  Breininger, David R.; Smith, Rebecca B. 1992. Relationships between fire
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 .  Brown, David E. 1982. Great Basin montane scrubland. In: Brown, David
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 .  Campbell, R. Wayne. 1986. First Canadian record of the scrub jay
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 .  Cox, Jeffrey A. 1984. Distribution, habitat, and social organization of
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