Pinyon Jay
The Pinyon Jay is a stocky, short-tailed jay with a long, slender bill giving it a resemblance to the Clark's Nutcracker. It is gray-blue, darkest on the head, with white streaking on its throat. The Pinyon Jay's call is a high-pitched caaa, often quavering at the end and resembling a laughing haa-a-a-a.

The Pinyon Jay forages in trees and on the ground principally for pinyon nuts but also seeds of ponderosa pines and other conifers caching them for use during the next breeding season. It also eats fruits, berries, insects and eggs and nestlings of small birds. The Pinyon Jay usually nests in scattered colonies of up to 100 birds, usually with just one nest per tree. It builds its nest away from the center of a tree on a low, southerly facing horizontal limb, and generally 6 to 20 feet above the ground. Pinyons, junipers, ponderosa pines, and scrub oaks are common nest trees.

The Pinyon Jay is a year-round resident from central Oregon and Montana southward to central Arizona, New Mexico and extreme northwestern Oklahoma. It prefers ponderosa pine, pinyon-juniper and mixed pine and oak forests.
Pinyon Jay Range Map


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