The Western Scrub Jay is a familiar bird of lowland forests, brushy areas, backyards, and birdfeeders. The scrub Jay, as its name implies, inhabits scrub and brushy areas but is common in parks, gardens, and backyards. These birds are common, especially in the lower park. Patterned in blue, gray, and white, these nearly foot-long birds are well known for their appearance, tameness, and raucous call. They feed on small animals such as insects, lizards, frogs, mammals, and birds, and in the winter, nuts, seeds, and acorns. They will occasionally peck through the bottom of the nest of a nesting bird to eat the eggs or young birds. This behavior and their harsh call have given them a rather unsavory reputation
Like others of the jay and crow family, scrub jays are quite intelligent. They cache acorns in the soil, sometimes covering the burial site with a leaf, and remember where the caches are months later. They will also steal acorns from other jays’ caches. If a jay notices another jay watching it bury its cache, the jay will return later to move the cache in order not to be burglarized by the observing jay.