Aphelocoma insularis
| Island scrub jay | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Aphelocoma |
| Species: | A. insularis |
| Binomial name | |
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Aphelocoma insularis Henshaw, 1886 |
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Year-round resident range on Santa Cruz Island
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The island scrub jay (Aphelocoma insularis) also island jay or Santa Cruz jay is a bird in the scrub jay genus, Aphelocoma, which is endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California. Of the over 500 breeding bird species in the continental U.S. and Canada, it is the only insular endemic landbird species. The island scrub jay (ISSJ) is closely related to the California scrub jay – the coastal population found on the adjacent mainland – but differs in being larger, more brightly colored, and having a markedly stouter bill. The large bill size is related to its diet, incorporating the thick-shelled acorns of the island oak (Quercus tomentella). They will bury, or cache, the acorns in the fall and may eat them months later. They also eat insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice and other birds' eggs and nestlings.
The island scrub jay was first described by American ornithologist Henry Wetherbee Henshaw in 1886 and an archaeological specimen at site SCRI-192 dating from 1780's-1812 on Santa Cruz Island is the earliest evidence of the bird in the historic period. This bird is a member of the crow family, and is one of a group of closely related North American species named as scrub jays. These were formerly often considered as a single species, the scrub jay, Aphelocoma coerulesens, with five subspecies, but full species status is now normally given to the Florida scrub jay, A. coerulesens, the island scrub jay, the California scrub jay, A. californica, and Woodhouse's scrub jay, A. woodhouseii. The relationships within the genus are not fully resolved. and most taxonomists already split it into Californian scrub jay, A. californica, and Woodhouse's scrub jay, A. woodhouseii. The DNA studies also indicate that the island and coastal forms have long been isolated from their relatives inland.
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Wikipedia