Mexican Jay: The Loud, Sociable Regular of Chiricahua National Park

Pull into almost any parking area at Chiricahua National Park and you'll probably be greeted by a loud, blue-gray bird that seems to think it has a reservation. That's the Mexican jay. The park calls it a year-round resident and one of the most common birds you'll see, and it's the most-recorded bird inside the park on iNaturalist (NPS; iNaturalist). If you want a sky island bird you can count on seeing, this is the one to start with.

A Mexican jay recorded inside the park on June 5, 2023. Main image: photo by Roland Godon, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist, cropped, with text added.

Mexican jays live in the park's oak and pine woods, and they're around in every season. They usually forage in flocks and call a lot, which makes them easier to find than most birds (Audubon). Still, it's a wild bird on its own schedule. Even the park's most reliable resident doesn't come with a guarantee.

How to Recognize a Mexican Jay

The Mexican jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi) is a sturdy jay about 10 to 12 inches long, plain dull blue above and smooth gray below, with a long tail and no crest. Males and females look alike (Audubon). Young birds in Arizona start out with pale bills that gradually darken to black, so a pale-billed jay in a family group is usually a youngster (Audubon).

The likeliest mix-up is Woodhouse's scrub-jay. The scrub-jay is slimmer and has a white throat with a dark "necklace" across the upper breast; the Mexican jay's throat and breast are plain gray (Audubon). If you've birded here years ago, you may know it by an older name: the park notes it used to be called the gray-breasted jay (NPS).

You'll often hear a flock before you see it. The usual call is a loud, rising wenk?, repeated over and over (Audubon).

A Mexican jay on the ground, showing the pale blue head and plain gray breast. Observed in Chiricahua National Monument, Willcox, AZ, on April 17, 2018. Photo: CK2AZ, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

Where and When to Look in Chiricahua

In Arizona, Mexican jays live in open oak woodland and pine-oak forest in canyons and on lower mountain slopes, up to about 7,000 feet (Audubon). That describes a lot of Chiricahua. Look in the oak and pine woods throughout the park, and especially around the picnic areas, Bonita Canyon Campground, and the visitor center. The park also says they're often in parking areas, where they beg for food (NPS).

A Mexican jay recorded inside the park on June 5, 2023. Photo: Roland Godon, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

They don't migrate. Audubon calls the Mexican jay one of the most sedentary birds in North America, and its flocks hold permanent territories that can stay the same for generations (Audubon). The jays you see at the campground this year may well be the descendants of the ones campers saw decades ago.

What They're Doing This Time of Year

Fall is acorn season, and that's a big deal for this bird. From fall through winter, acorns and pinyon pine seeds make up most of its diet. To open an acorn, a jay pins it against a branch with its feet and hammers it with its bill. In fall it also buries acorns and comes back for many of them later (Audubon). If you see a jay hopping around on the ground and poking at the dirt, it may be filing away lunch for January.

The family life is the memorable part. Mexican jays are cooperative breeders: in Arizona, two to four females in one flock may nest at the same time, and other flock members feed the female while she incubates and help feed the young (Audubon). The helpers are usually the flock's own offspring from the previous year or two (Wikipedia). So a noisy gang of jays is often an extended family.

Perched in a pine. Observed in Chiricahua National Monument, Willcox, AZ, on April 17, 2018. Photo: CK2AZ, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist.

Watching Them Responsibly

• Don't feed them. The park is blunt about it: feeding birds is prohibited (NPS). Feeding any wildlife, on purpose or by accident, can bring a fine, and bird feeders aren't allowed in the park (NPS).
• Lock up your food. At the campground, food, coolers, and trash go in your site's storage locker or a closed vehicle (NPS). Mexican jays are quick, and a sandwich left on a picnic table is an invitation.
• Give them room. The park asks you to keep a few car lengths between you and wild animals when you can (NPS). These jays often come close on their own; let that be their choice, and use binoculars or your phone's zoom.

The Easy Win

Some park animals take patience and luck. The Mexican jay mostly takes showing up. Sit at a picnic table with your food put away, listen for that rising wenk?, and watch how the flock works together.

My guide to Chiricahua National Park profiles 14 animals, from coatis to Yarrow's spiny lizards, with where and when to look for each, along with nine one- to three-day itineraries. For the park's own overview, see Chiricahua's Animals page and its birding page.

Before you go: see Chiricahua National Park alerts and current conditions, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Conditions change; check the park's current alerts before you go.