USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Platte River Status: A common permanent resident, although ingress of migrant birds from northern regions occurs yearly. Tout (1947) considered blue jay a common summer resident in Lincoln County wherever trees and food occurred.

Breeding Range: A common nesting species in the Platte River Valley physiographic region west to North Platte, Lincoln County; less common and more local further west along the river. Fairly common but local on the Eastern Plain and Dissected Plain; rare and local on the Western Plain and in the Sandhills.

Breeding Population: The population in 1979-1980 was estimated at 7,000 nesting pairs. Blue jay made up 0.2% of the total breeding bird population in the study area those years.

Habitat: We found the highest nesting densities in shelterbelts (9.5 pairs/km²), followed by lowland forest (6.7 pairs/km²), residential (2.0 pairs/km²), river channel island (0.2 pairs/km²), upland prairie (0.2 pairs/km²), and wet prairie (0.2 pairs/km²). Two Gosper County nests were located in Rocky Mountain cedar trees within the lowland forest. Faanes (1982) recorded blue jay rarely in dense hawthorn thickets in central North Dakota. Highest nesting densities in northeastern North Dakota were in mixed bur oak - quaking aspen forest (Faanes and Andrew 1983).

Effect of Habitat Alteration: Blue jay has benefited from de-watering of the Platte River system and the subsequent establishment of wooded vegetation in the river channel. Establishment of shelterbelts in areas that were formerly native grasslands has benefited this species through providing additional areas for nesting. The westward expansion of this species most typical of the eastern deciduous forest has been facilitated by wooded vegetation encroachment along many east-west oriented streams on the Great Plains. In Illinois, Graber and Graber (1963) noted a 64% population decline between 1909 and 1958. During the same time period, habitat preference shifted from forest in 1909 to residential areas in 1958.

Nesting Data: Collister (1950) found two blue jay nests in a tree grove along the Platte River near Brady, Lincoln County (T. 14 N. - R. 36 W.) in 1949. Mean clutch size among five Lincoln County nests was 3.2 eggs during 4 May to 18 June. Kansas egg dates extend from 10 April to 10 July, with a peak in mid May (Johnsgard 1979).