At Home in the Woodland
Pinyon Jays and Piñon Pines
With a strong, sharp bill, a Pinyon Jay pounds and pries at a pinecone to extract a seed. The beak is featherless at the base, a unique adaptation that allows the jay to dig deep in the sap-covered green cone without gumming up its nostrils. Every few years, piñon pines produce a mast crop of cones. A large flock of Pinyon Jays can harvest and disperse millions of piñon seeds in a few weeks, caching them for the coming winter. They remember where they hide 90 percent of the seeds, those they forget about become the next generation of trees. The birds take advantage of this bounty by nesting in greater numbers and raising more young. Other animals carry seeds, but Pinyon Jays—which carry 50 seeds at a time—are the only seed dispersers capable of reestablishing the pines after fires, infestations, and other disturbances. Without the jays, the piñon woodland may become less dynamic and may not be able to move into habitable areas as the climate changes.
Pinyon Jay’s Social Lives
Historically Pinyon Jays traveled in raucous winter flocks of up to 500 individuals. Today it’s rare to see more than 100 birds flocking together. These losses are partially caused by developers who clear piñon-juniper woodland, including established jay nesting colonies, to build housing and energy projects. The ips bark beetle, native to the Southwest, also creates problems. In a healthy woodland, the beetles help trees decompose and serve as bird food. When the insects tunnel too deep into the wood, trees produce sap to push the beetles out—a self-defense mechanism no longer possible as higher temperatures and long-term drought conditions created by climate change. Bark beetle infestations now overwhelm stressed woodlands, causing mass die-offs and a significant decrease in seed production. Without ample food, Pinyon Jays forgo nesting, driving population declines.