DEAR JOAN: A scrub-jay is hanging around my yard. It’s ratty looking, like it may have been mauled by a cat. It’s missing its under feathers and has one club foot, which it keeps curled next to its ...

ORLANDO, Fla. – A baffling debate has been happening in Florida and it’s strange even by Florida standards. The fight to make a sweet, friendly and unique bird the winged representative of the ...

Characteristics: A medium-sized jay with a blue head, wings and tail; grayish back and pale-gray underparts. The sexes have similar plumage, and these jays average 11 inches in length. Their face mask ...

Though I like to brag that I’m a Florida boy, born and bred, I must confess that I’ve never seen the state’s sole endemic bird species—the scrub jay. It used to be easy to see scrub jays. They were ...

Wandering the sandy scrub habitat of Deltona’s Lyonia Preserve, traversing rolling dunes filled with short oaks and prickly pear cactus, Stephen Kintner greets resident Florida scrub-jays as if old ...

Audubon Florida is seeking Jay Watch volunteers to help monitor the endangered Florida scrub-jay. According to Jacqui Sulek, Audubon Florida’s Chapter Conservation Manager, the Jay Watch program ...

From the beaches to the prairies. From the towns and the cities. From the hills of Tallahassee, the people shout with glee, ...

Once again, there is a movement to replace the mockingbird as Florida’s official state bird. Why boot the bird? Because it’s a lame choice. Sure, the cute little brown chatterbox is novel. But the ...

The late morning scrub is quiet, save distant jet roar over palmetto rasp. Then, a silvery-blue burst of bird whirs in, lighting on a skeletal tarflower plant. Head cocked, arm outstretched, the ...

Although several different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of helping behavior, most are based on the assumption that helping enhances the reproductive success of recipient ...