The GRAY JAY is a resident species of the extreme northwest and northeast in California. It occurs in coastal and montane coniferous forests but is everywhere spread thin and thus often elusive and difficult to locate. Campers, though, find them bold and inquisitive as they visit campsites. The races in California are darker-capped and whiter-bellied than races in Canada and the Rocky Mountains. This is especially pronounced in the coastal obscurus (the one photographed here); birds in the Siskiyou and Warner Mts. are of the race griseus which is a bit larger and grayer but still much darker-headed than races to the east.

A selection of my California records are listed below. The one from Lassen County was near the southern tip of the race of P. c. griseus; the Mendocino birds were near the southern end of the range of obscurus (but it has occurred south to Sonoma Co. as a vagrant):

4/12/75     Russ Park, Ferndale HUM
12/4/77     Big Lagoon HUM     flock of ~dozen
12/4/77     Redwood NP, DN     heard on “coastal trail” nr HUM line
4/21/80      Patricks Pt. SP, HUM     several
8/15/00     Blue Lake LAS     1 visited our campsite
7/1/01     Little River HUM     3 visited our deck at Sea Foam Lodge

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