ST. GEORGE — Pinyon jays are one of the fastest-declining birds in the U.S., having lost an estimated 85% of its population since the 1960s, with another 50% reduction possible by 2035 without intervention.
But not all is lost — Southern Utahns can help, said Peggy Darr, the Defenders of Wildlife’s New Mexico representative.
Pinyon jays are closely tied to pinyon pine trees, and pine nuts are one of their primary food sources. However, some research has indicated that climate change and drought could cause the trees to produce fewer seeds due to hotter, drier conditions.
This is one of the biggest challenges the jays face, said Rachel Bolus, an associate professor of biology at Southern Utah University. However, property owners can “create habitat in their own yards” by planting or maintaining native species, particularly pinyon pines.
Jays are “very comfortable” nesting in suburban neighborhoods, Darr said.
“I live in a subdivision, and there’s a nesting pinyon jay flock in an open space right across from my house, and they regularly come into people’s yards,” she said.
Locals can keep their pine trees healthy by spreading approximately 2-4 inches of mulch and giving them extra attention and water. Homeowners can install erosion-control devices, like straw wattles, around the pines to capture more rain runoff, Darr said. These methods can create cooler soil, allowing the trees to produce more nuts.
Those with larger plots should avoid thinning pinyon pine trees, Darr said, adding that juniper trees are also important, as jays will often nest in their denser foliage.
Additionally, homeowners should avoid using pesticides, as pinyon jays eat insects, Darr added.
While collecting pine nuts, the Bureau of Land Management’s Cedar City Field Office recommends only taking what can reasonably be used and leaving the rest behind for the animals that rely on them, St. George News reported.
Southern Utahns can also comment on public land projects that may impact pinyon jays, Darr said. For instance, if a federal agency plans to clear-cut pinyon-juniper forest as part of its wildfire resilience efforts, it will conduct a National Environmental Protection Act analysis to consider the impacts of the action on native plants and animals and request public input.
How to help biologists track jays
Biologists have become increasingly concerned about the pinyon jay, prompting Defenders of Wildlife to petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list it under the Endangered Species Act. The agency announced such protection could be warranted in August, St. George News reported.
The U.S. Forest Service said the key to saving “rapidly vanishing pinyon jays” could be cultivating a better understanding of their habitat use, as they appear to use only a small portion of available pinyon-juniper forest.
But pinyon jays are “understudied,” prompting the Pinyon Jay Working Group to collaborate with various partners to “increase our limited knowledge of the species.” Its partners include the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Fish and Wildlife, the Forest Service, the National Audubon Society and the Great Basin Bird Observatory.
By collecting additional data, the working group hopes to develop habitat management recommendations to benefit the species.
According to the bird observatory, a “special emphasis” will be placed on conservation and data collection while Fish and Wildlife conducts its 12-month review to determine if they will federally list pinyon jays.
“Data collected by community scientists may help inform the birds’ use across the landscape and identify high priority areas in the future,” the observatory states.
Through the observatory, citizen scientists have collected pinyon jay data in Utah, Nevada and Arizona, among others. Southern Utahns interested in participating can create an account on the observatory website, download the Survey123 app and request to become a data collector by emailing the administrator.
Individuals can also collect data on various bird species, including pinyon jays, by participating in The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s citizen science initiatives, like eBird and FeederWatch. FeederWatch’s current season ends in April.
The Great Basin Bird Observatory doesn’t use eBird to gather information as it “doesn’t have an easy way to record absence records,” which helps scientists to understand how jays use the landscape, its website states. It also lacks a standard method for collecting data on pinyon jay-specific behaviors.
“Without this information, we can’t use the data to understand the different kinds of habitat that are important for breeding, foraging, or caching, or ‘weed out’ the fly-over records that are not linked to local habitat conditions,” the observatory wrote. “Our Survey 123 provides all of these capabilities. That said, we also encourage you to continue to submit your Pinyon Jay sightings to eBird.”
The Grand Canyon Trust is also seeking volunteers to collect pinyon jay data via the eBird app, focusing on birds in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and throughout the Colorado Plateau.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s North American Breeding Bird Survey — used to estimate pinyon jay population trends — is conducted each spring, and the agency is “always looking for highly skilled birders to join the team.” Those interested in volunteering can learn more at the survey website.
Additionally, Bolus collaborates with BLM wildlife biologist Derek Christensen and the Cedar City Field Office to study how pinyon jays are affected by pinyon-juniper clearing, among other focuses.
Southern Utahns who spot jays while hiking, hunting or bird-watching can email the professor the number of birds observed, what they were doing, and their GPS location, including latitude and longitude.
“I can follow up if it is a new location with public access,” she said. “Make sure not to disturb them to get this information, especially if they are nesting.”
Nesting colonies are more sensitive to human disturbances, said DWR wildlife conservation biologist Scott Gibson. People can inadvertently attract other corvids, like ravens, into the colonies and the larger birds may eat the jays’ eggs or destroy their nests.
Observing pinyon jays
There are multiple species of jay and blue-colored birds in Southern Utah, some of which are easily mistaken for pinyon jays.
For instance, Woodhouse’s scrub jays are also blue, have a white throat and frequent pinyon-juniper habitat, according to All About Birds. However, there are some ways to tell the difference.
The pinyon jay, nicknamed “blue crow,” is a crestless corvid with bare nostrils, the American Bird Conservancy states. They have shorter tails than scrub jays and are a dusky blue. Comparatively, scrub jays have longer tails and boast a more vibrant hue with gray bellies and white eyebrow lines.
In the spring, summer and fall, pinyon jays are almost exclusively found at the edges of pinyon-juniper woodlands and are less often found in denser forests, Gibson told St. George News. The birds collect pine nuts and stash them in nearby shrublands.
In the winter, they are not as heavily associated with woodlands. Instead, multiple flocks may gather together, descending on seed stores in shrublands or neighborhoods with bird feeders, Gibson said.
While scrub jays are often found alone, in pairs or small groups, social pinyon jays feed and nest together — they are almost never alone, Darr said. The species nests in traditional sites, which they typically return to yearly.
They are also “highly monogamous.” In one experiment, researchers tried to coax partners to cheat on each other — they wouldn’t, Darr said.
“We could argue that they’re more monogamous than some human beings,” she said. “It’s been shown that they make it known to their partner where they’ve cached the seeds — sort of like a life insurance policy for their partner: ‘If I die, here’s where my seeds are.”‘
Also, locals will likely hear noisy pinyon jays before they see them.
“They are very vocal, and once you’ve learned their sounds, you will hear them all over southern Utah year-round,” Bolus said.
Updated, Jan. 11, 6:23 p.m.: Includes additional information about citizen science initiatives.
Photo Gallery
The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 2, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 29, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 30, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News The West's pinyon jays have seen a population decline of about 85% since the 1960s, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 29, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News Woodhouse's scrub jay is perched on a tree, Kanarraville, Utah, Dec. 29, 2023 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News
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