Aphelocoma californica
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada. The California scrub jay was once lumped with Woodhouse's scrub jay and collectively called the western scrub jay. IUCN and the Handbook of the Birds of the World maintain this lumped taxon. The group was also lumped with the island scrub jay and the Florida scrub jay; the taxon was then called simply scrub jay. The California scrub jay is nonmigratory and can be found in urban areas, where it can become tame and will come to bird feeders. While many refer to scrub jays as "blue jays", the blue jay is a different species of bird entirely.
The generic name, Aphelocoma, derives from Latinized Ancient Greek apheles- (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin coma (from Greek kome κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. The species name, californica, is Latin for "from California".
The California scrub jay is a medium-sized bird, approximately 27–31 cm (11–12 in) in length... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabo Pulmo National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a California Scrub-Jay sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 330 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 70th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a California Scrub-Jay in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and September, the lowest months. Those are among Yosemite National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in September.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most California Scrub-Jay sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate California Scrub-Jay sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cabo Pulmo National Park (Mexico, about 60%), Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 40%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 40%).
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the California Scrub-Jay that you can see in Yosemite National Park (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Steller's Jay (about 80%), Common Raven (about 80%) and Clark's Nutcracker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the California Scrub-Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Yosemite National Park (330 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
