{"id":40401,"date":"2016-07-08T05:18:20","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T11:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40401"},"modified":"2023-01-12T03:15:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T10:15:40","slug":"woodhouses-scrub-jay-a-familiar-bird-with-a-new-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/08\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-a-familiar-bird-with-a-new-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay – A Familiar Bird with a New Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Woodhouse\u2019sWoodhouse’s Scrub-Jay adult – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The long-awaited Scrub-Jay split has officially happened! Western Scrub-Jay can be crossed out in a our field guides (yes, I do that) and the two new names California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay can be penciled in. California Scrub-Jays are more coastal and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays are more inland, there is a bit of overlap of their ranges in Nevada. The two species have differences in appearance, habitat, voice and behavior. The scientific name for California Scrub-Jay is Aphelocoma californica<\/em> and for Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay it is Aphelocoma woodhouseii. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"FluffedFluffed up Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay on a winter day – Nikon D810, f71, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Our “new” scrub-jay gets its name from Samuel Washington Woodhouse<\/span><\/a> (1821-1904), a doctor and naturalist who was the author of\u00a0 A Naturalist in Indian Territory: The Journal of S. W. Woodhouse. <\/em>He also had a toad named in his honor.<\/p>\n

So the scrub-jays here in the Great Basin and the Interior West are now Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays. I don’t know about any one else but for the time being I am just going to call them “scrub-jays” when I spot them in the field until I get used to calling the jays by their new and fancier sounding name.<\/p>\n

I guess I need to head west to add California Scrub-Jays to my portfolio!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Birds make it better!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

The first image was taken near Cascade Springs in the Uinta National Forest, Wasatch County, the second image was taken in Ophir Canyon in Tooele County, Utah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The long-awaited Scrub-Jay split has officially happened! Western Scrub-Jay can be crossed out in a our fields guides and the two new names California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay can be penciled in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2593,4886,358,3886,26,2607,2710],"tags":[4004,2712,4226,5266,4827,683,6792,2714,5267,5265,4104,4887,5269,6793,5264,4050,5268,5263,2711],"class_list":["post-40401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-cascade-springs","category-ophir-canyon","category-tooele-county","category-uinta-national-forest","category-utah","category-wasatch-county","category-woodhouses-scrub-jays","tag-adult","tag-aphelocoma-woodhouseii","tag-behavior","tag-california-scrub-jay","tag-differences","tag-habitat-2","tag-jay","tag-jays","tag-name-change","tag-oak","tag-perched","tag-pinyon-pine","tag-samuel-washington-woodhouse","tag-scrub-jay","tag-scrub-jays","tag-snow","tag-split","tag-western-scrub-jay","tag-woodhouses-scrub-jay"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-9728.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-avD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34915,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/18\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-ophir-canyon\/","url_meta":{"origin":40401,"position":0},"title":"Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay in Ophir Canyon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in Ophir Canyon Road in Tooele County were the most cooperative of the jays that I found.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay perched on a snow covered Pinyon Pine, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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portraits of them yet that is precisely what happened to me two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay portrait in junipers, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-portrait-junipr-mia-mcpherson-7845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-portrait-junipr-mia-mcpherson-7845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-portrait-junipr-mia-mcpherson-7845.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay in the West Desert, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-juniper-mia-mcpherson-5214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-juniper-mia-mcpherson-5214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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