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LEGAL STATUS :
Federally listed as Threatened in 1987.
Florida listed as Threatened 1975.
TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS :
Breeding Season - late February to July
Clutch - range 1 to 6; average 3 to 4
Incubation - 17 to 18 days
Fledging - range 12 to 25 days; average 18 days
TIMING OF MAJOR ECOLOGICAL EVENTS :
Harvesting and caching acorns - August through December
Natural Fire - Lightning induced, May to October
PREFERRED HABITAT :
Florida scrub-jays
are extremely habitat-restricted, occurring mainly in scrub
and scrubby flatwoods of Florida [1], but may also
occupy landscapes dominated by poorly drained flatwoods that
include patches of scrub oak [10]. Scrub is a xeromorphic
shrub ecosystem dominated by a layer of evergreen, or nearly
evergreen, oaks and/or Florida Rosemary, with or without a
pine overstory [2]. Its flora and fauna are
adapted to and maintained by high-intensity fires, that can
recur as frequently as 2 - 10 years [2]. Large
blocks of protected scrub remain in and around the Ocala National
Forest, on Lake Wales Ridge in Polk and Highlands counties,
and in Brevard county.
Scrub and related community types in Brevard county are distributed among five scrub landscapes: Cape Canaveral, Merritt Island, Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Ten Mile Ridge and Osceola Plain Ridge [3]. The largest remaining tracts of contiguous scrub occur on Federal lands within Kennedy Space Center - Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (Table 1). Although much scrub remains on these Federal lands, most is severely degraded as a result of long periods of fire suppression [3,4]. Scrub in all areas of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, much of the Ten Mile Ridge, and portions of the Osceola Plain Ridge have been fragmented into small polygons. Habitat degradation as a result of fire suppression is common to all of these landscapes, except perhaps where large, undeveloped ranchlands have been regularly burned for range management.
Optimal scrub habitat for Florida scrub-jays is a mosaic of oak-dominated shrubs with interspersed patches of bare sand and few overstory trees [5]. Shrub height should be a patchwork of plants 3 - 7 feet and shorter. These conditions normally develop 3 - 5 years after intense fire has removed most ground cover, and last about 10 - 15 years thereafter, until scrub vegetation becomes too tall and open patches of bare sand are lost. Scrub unburned for more than 20 years generally does not support Florida scrub-jays long.
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