In celebration of our feathery friends and recognition of April 26 as National Audubon Day in the United States, we are sharing one of our avian lithographs from Audubon’s Birds of America series (1827-1838). The original works were engraved, hand-colored, and sized to life on “Double Elephant Folio" paper. Plate 87, Number 18 print depicts a vibrant blue female and male Florida Scrub Jay in the branches of a persimmon tree.
The print’s description features the defunct scientific name of Garrulus floridanus (“Old World jay of Florida”), and has since been reclassified as an Aphelocoma coerulescens (“simple hair” and “sky-blue”). This reclassification was in part due to further distinction between crested jays, like a blue jay, and the smooth-headed scrub jays.
The brilliant blue color is a major defining feature of the species. But, unlike the print, the Florida Scrub Jay is not actually blue. There is no pigment for blue in its feathers, but rather brown or gray. The microscopic shapes of the keratin and air pockets in the feathers scatters the light, producing a “structural color” of blue. The phenomenon also occurs in the Blue Jay, Bluebird, and Indigo Bunting.
The Florida Scrub Jay is rare, found only in the state of Florida. Unlike many songbirds, it does not migrate and, according to the National Audubon Society’s online Bird Guide, the bird rarely leaves its habitat of the scrubland, characterized by the semi-arid fire-prone land dominated by scrub oaks, low-lying shrubs, and grasses. There, the birds store thousands of acorns for later consumption, inadvertently planting new scrub oak trees. The scrub oak is another keystone species, providing shelter for rare insects, preventing erosion, and producing nutritious acorns for consumption by all kinds of critters. Since 1987, the Florida Scrub Jay is classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to its already limited and shrinking habitat.
If you wish to learn more about the Florida Scrub Jay and its plight, please visit conservation and research hubs such as the Archbold Biological Station (https://www.archbold-station.org/projects/long-term-florida-scrub-jay-project/), Florida Scrub-Jay Conservation (https://fsjconservation.org/), and the Audubon Society’s Jay Watch (https://www.audubon.org/florida/projects/jay-watch).