|
Aphelocoma
The passerine birds of the genus ''Aphelocoma'' include the scrub jays and their relatives. They are New World jays found in Mexico, western Central America and the western United States, with an outlying population in Florida. This genus belongs to the group of New World (or "blue") jays—possibly a distinct subfamily–which is not closely related to other jays, magpies or treepies. Within this group, according to a 2023 molecular analysis, ''Aphelocoma'' is the sister group to a clade consisting of ''Cyanocitta'' and ''Pinyon jay, Gymnorhinus''. They live in open pine-oak forests, chaparral, and California mixed evergreen forest, mixed evergreen forests. Systematics Seven species of ''Aphelocoma'' are generally recognized at the present time. They are believed to have evolved in the Pleistocene, and the Florida scrub jay is known to have been recognizably distinct and present in its current range for at least two million years. The inland, coastal, and Santa Cruz island pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Scrub Jay
The California scrub jay (''Aphelocoma californica'') is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. The California scrub jay was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the ''western scrub jay''. The group was also lumped with the island scrub jay and the Florida scrub jay; the taxon was then called simply ''scrub jay''. The California scrub jay is nonmigratory and can be found in urban areas, where it can become tame and will come to bird feeders. While many refer to scrub jays as "blue jays", the blue jay is a different species of bird entirely. Etymology The generic name, ''Aphelocoma'', derives from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Californica
The California scrub jay (''Aphelocoma californica'') is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada. The California scrub jay was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the ''western scrub jay''. The group was also lumped with the island scrub jay and the Florida scrub jay; the taxon was then called simply ''scrub jay''. The California scrub jay is nonmigratory and can be found in urban areas, where it can become tame and will come to bird feeders. While many refer to scrub jays as "blue jays", the blue jay is a different species of bird entirely. Etymology The generic name, ''Aphelocoma'', derives from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Wollweberi
The Mexican jay (''Aphelocoma wollweberi'') Etymology: ''Aphelocoma'', from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. ''wollweberi'', Name: "collector Mr. Wollweber". formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Woodhouseii
Woodhouse's scrub jay (''Aphelocoma'' ''woodhouseii'') is a species of scrub jay native to western North America, ranging from southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho to central Mexico. Woodhouse's scrub jay was until recently considered the same species as the California scrub jay, and collectively called the western scrub jay. Prior to that both of them were also considered the same species as the island scrub jay and the Florida scrub jay; the taxon was then called simply the scrub jay. Woodhouse's scrub jay is nonmigratory and can be found in urban areas, where it can become tame and will come to bird feeders. While many refer to scrub jays as "blue jays", the blue jay is a different species of bird entirely. Woodhouse's scrub jay is named for the American naturalist and explorer Samuel Washington Woodhouse. Description Woodhouse's scrub jay is a medium-sized bird, approximately in length (including its tail), with a wingspan, and about in weight. The species has a blue he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Coerulescens
The Florida scrub jay (''Aphelocoma coerulescens'') is one of the species of scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird endemic to the U.S. state of Florida and one of only 15 species endemic to the continental United States. Because of this, it is keenly sought by birders. It is known to have been present in Florida as a distinct species for at least 2 million years, and is possibly derived from the ancestors of Woodhouse's scrub jay. Description It measures in length, and weighs from , with an average . The wingspan of the jay is . It has a strong black bill, blue head and nape without a crest, a whitish forehead and supercilium, blue bib, blue wings, grayish underparts, gray back, long blue tail, black legs and feet. Ecology The Florida scrub jay is found only in Florida scrub habitat, an ecosystem that exists only in central Florida and in limited areas along the Atlantic coast, and is characterized by nutrient-poor soil, occasional drought, and fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Insularis
The island scrub jay (''Aphelocoma insularis''), also known as the island jay or Santa Cruz jay, is a bird in the 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. Description The island scrub jay 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. 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. Taxonomy 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 the 1780s-1812 on Santa Cruz Island is the earliest evidence of the bird in the historic peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Unicolor
The unicolored jay (''Aphelocoma unicolor'') is an ''Aphelocoma'' jay native to cloud forests of northwestern Central America and southern and southeastern Mexico, from central Honduras west to central Guerrero, southern Veracruz and extreme southern San Luis Potosí. It is apparently a basal member of its genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ... (Rice ''et al.'' 2003). At Montebello, Chiapas, it is a cooperative breeder (Webber and Brown 1994), and is not known to perform mating dances. Subspecies * ''A. u. guerrerensis'' has an especially large bill and long tail. Its feathers are bluish-purple. * ''A. u. concolor'' has pale blue plumage. * ''A. u.oaxacae'' has dark blue plumage. Its wing, tail and tarsus are relatively short. * ''A. u. unicolor'' * ''A. u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphelocoma Ultramarina
The jay (''Aphelocoma ultramarina'') is a bird endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ... to Mexico. Description It is a medium-large (~120 g) passerine bird similar in size to most other jays, with a blue head, blue-gray mantle, blue wings and tail, gray breast and underparts. The sexes are morphologically similar, and juveniles differ only in having less blue coloration. The iris is brown and legs are black. It is most readily distinguished by the plain (unstreaked) throat and breast, and the mantle contrasting less with the head and wings. Systematics A 2011 decision by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list Committee treats some populations of the Mexican jay as a separate species, called the Transvolcanic jay (''A. ultramarina''), based on diagnosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires. Many chaparral shrubs have hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found often on drier, southern-facing slopes. Three other closely related chaparral shrubland systems occur in southern Arizona, western Texas, and along the eastern side of central Mexico's mountain chains, all having summer rains in contrast to the Mediterranean climate of other chaparral formations. Etymology The name comes from the Spanish language, Spanish word , which translates to "place of the scrub oak". ''Scrub oak'' in turn comes from the Basque language, Basque word , which has the same meaning. Overview In its natural state, chaparral is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinyon Jay
The pinyon jay (''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'') is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus ''Gymnorhinus''. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far as western Oklahoma, though wanderers are often sighted beyond this range. It is typically found within foothills, especially where pinyon pines ('' Pinus edulis'' and '' Pinus monophylla'') occur. Description The pinyon jay is a bluish-grey coloured bird with deeper head colouring and whitish throat with black bill, legs and feet. Roughly intermediate between the blue jay and the Eurasian jay in size, its overall proportions are similar to Clark's nutcracker (''Nucifraga columbiana'') and this can be seen as convergent evolution, as both birds fill similar ecological niches. They were once known as "blue crows". Taxonomy The pinyon jay was first collected, recorded, and first described as a species from a specimen shot along the Maria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyanocitta
''Cyanocitta'' is a genus of birds in the family Corvidae, a family which contains the crows, jays and magpies. The genus includes two crested jays with blue plumage and a distinctive feather crest. Found only in temperate North America, the Rocky Mountains divide the two species. These jays inhabit deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests, feeding mainly on seeds, invertebrates, and small vertebrates, with occasional human food. As omnivores, they breed from spring to early summer, nesting in treetops or bushes with clutches of three to six eggs. They are the only American corvids that use mud in nest-building. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in migratory behavior, socialization, and mating habits. Description Crested jays are relatively slender corvids with similar body shapes but differ in size. Steller’s jay is larger than the blue jay. Their strong black beaks have a small hooked tip and minimal bristles. They have slightly rounded, medium-to-long tails ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as current, with additional synonyms, and ''Plants of the World Online'' 126 species-rank taxa (113 species and 13 nothospecies), making it the largest genus among the conifers. The highest species diversity of pines is found in Mexico. Pines are widely species distribution, distributed in the Northern Hemisphere; they occupy large areas of boreal forest, but are found in many habitats, including the Mediterranean Basin, and dry tropical forests in southeast Asia and Central America. Wood from pine trees is one of the most extensively used types of timber, and some pines are widely used as Christmas trees. Description Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous resinous trees (or, rarely, shrubs) growing tall, with the majority of species reachin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
