While hiking in the pinyon-juniper and scrub oak landscapes of Red Rock Canyon, you might spot blue flashes of Woodhouse’s scrub jays (Aphelocoma woodhouseii) flying across the sky. These birds tend to forage on pine nuts, acorns, and other seeds during the winter while consuming insects during the summer. These medium sized birds, about 12 inches in length, show great intelligence and memory by creating hundreds of food caches throughout their habitat for later harvesting. You can identify scrub-jays by their black beaks, blue wings, and grey backs & chests.

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