WhenToBird

Aphelocoma coerulescens · Corvidae

When Do Florida Scrub-Jays Arrive in Florida?

Adult male Florida Scrub-Jay
Photo: James Rogers, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

The Florida Scrub-Jay is in Florida all year. It turns up on about 1.3% of checklists at its peak (late January) and on 0.5% in its quietest week (late August).

When to look

PresentAll year
Peak weekJan 22-31late January
Quietest weekAug 22-31late August

Best: late January. Here all year. Peak: on about 1.3% of Florida checklists.

  1. Janpeak season
  2. Febpeak season
  3. Marpeak season
  4. Aprcommon
  5. Maycommon
  6. Juncommon
  7. Julcommon
  8. Augcommon
  9. Sepcommon
  10. Octcommon
  11. Novcommon
  12. Deccommon

Darker months: more checklists report it. Outlined: peak month.

0%0.5%1%1.5%Jan 1-7: 0.9% of 74446 checklistsJan 8-14: 1.0% of 60074 checklistsJan 15-21: 1.1% of 62945 checklistsJan 22-31: 1.4% of 84954 checklistsFeb 1-7: 1.3% of 59204 checklistsFeb 8-14: 1.1% of 63259 checklistsFeb 15-21: 1.0% of 77150 checklistsFeb 22-28: 1.2% of 62850 checklistsMar 1-7: 0.9% of 58560 checklistsMar 8-14: 1.1% of 57756 checklistsMar 15-21: 1.0% of 54898 checklistsMar 22-31: 1.0% of 76702 checklistsApr 1-7: 0.9% of 55096 checklistsApr 8-14: 0.7% of 55892 checklistsApr 15-21: 0.8% of 59358 checklistsApr 22-30: 0.8% of 73124 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.8% of 47915 checklistsMay 8-14: 0.9% of 44114 checklistsMay 15-21: 0.9% of 31858 checklistsMay 22-31: 0.9% of 40723 checklistsJun 1-7: 0.7% of 31668 checklistsJun 8-14: 0.9% of 27802 checklistsJun 15-21: 1.0% of 26698 checklistsJun 22-30: 0.9% of 32346 checklistsJul 1-7: 0.8% of 23826 checklistsJul 8-14: 0.9% of 23071 checklistsJul 15-21: 0.8% of 22903 checklistsJul 22-31: 0.6% of 32952 checklistsAug 1-7: 0.5% of 25093 checklistsAug 8-14: 0.7% of 24888 checklistsAug 15-21: 0.6% of 26030 checklistsAug 22-31: 0.5% of 38612 checklistsSep 1-7: 0.6% of 31023 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.6% of 30022 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.6% of 31611 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.6% of 42108 checklistsOct 1-7: 0.6% of 36219 checklistsOct 8-14: 0.7% of 43113 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.7% of 40987 checklistsOct 22-31: 0.7% of 53457 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.9% of 38587 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.7% of 39208 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.9% of 39729 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.8% of 54965 checklistsDec 1-7: 0.8% of 42070 checklistsDec 8-14: 0.8% of 43424 checklistsDec 15-21: 0.9% of 50581 checklistsDec 22-31: 1.0% of 82405 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Frequency is the share of complete checklists in Florida that listed the bird, 2016–2025. It is not a head count, and it follows where and when people go birding. How to read it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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Where in Florida

Best counties

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Highlands CountyBest the second week of April · 362 checklists that week, 15,281 in all16%
  2. Martin CountyBest the second week of July · 122 checklists that week, 17,988 in all12%
  3. Brevard CountyBest late January · 7544 checklists that week, 111,054 in all7.2%
  4. Indian River CountyBest mid May · 510 checklists that week, 36,013 in all4.0%
  5. Volusia CountyBest mid June · 662 checklists that week, 52,415 in all3.8%
  6. Marion CountyBest late March · 1733 checklists that week, 53,380 in all3.8%

Best spots

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Helen and Allan Cruickshank SanctuaryBrevard County, best the second week of June · 23 checklists that week, 1,949 in all100%
  2. Griffis BayBrevard County, best the second week of March · 28 checklists that week, 485 in all96%
  3. Lyonia PreserveVolusia County, best the second week of February · 27 checklists that week, 581 in all92%
  4. Jonathan Dickinson State Park (southwest)Martin County, best the second week of March · 23 checklists that week, 426 in all86%
  5. Friendship ParkIndian River County, best the second week of February · 21 checklists that week, 355 in all80%

Busy spots report more of everything; compare the checklist counts before you drive anywhere.

Best time of day

In Florida, the Florida Scrub-Jay is most often listed on checklists started between 8 and 10 am (1.1% of those checklists).

0%0.5%1%1.5%12 am: too few checklists (771) to judge1 am: too few checklists (771) to judge2 am: too few checklists (701) to judge3 am: too few checklists (752) to judge4 am: too few checklists (1378) to judge5 am: too few checklists (9462) to judge6 am: 0.7% of 94591 checklists7 am: 1.0% of 296183 checklists8 am: 1.2% of 319987 checklists9 am: 1.0% of 254830 checklists10 am: 1.0% of 209480 checklists11 am: 0.9% of 163924 checklists12 pm: 0.8% of 133478 checklists1 pm: 0.8% of 125012 checklists2 pm: 0.8% of 125299 checklists3 pm: 0.8% of 131072 checklists4 pm: 0.7% of 134410 checklists5 pm: 0.5% of 113373 checklists6 pm: 0.5% of 69886 checklists7 pm: too few checklists (37509) to judge8 pm: too few checklists (8966) to judge9 pm: too few checklists (2093) to judge10 pm: too few checklists (1485) to judge11 pm: too few checklists (862) to judge12a3a6a9a12p3p6p9p
Share of checklists started in each local hour that reported it. It reflects when people go birding as well as when birds are active. Grey hours have too few checklists (under 2% of the state’s, or under 200) to judge.
Week-by-week table
MonthDays 1-78-1415-2122-end
January0.9%1.0%1.1%1.4%
February1.3%1.1%1.0%1.2%
March0.9%1.1%1.0%1.0%
April0.9%0.7%0.8%0.8%
May0.8%0.9%0.9%0.9%
June0.7%0.9%1.0%0.9%
July0.8%0.9%0.8%0.6%
August0.5%0.7%0.6%0.5%
September0.6%0.6%0.6%0.6%
October0.6%0.7%0.7%0.7%
November0.9%0.7%0.9%0.8%
December0.8%0.8%0.9%1.0%

Common questions

When do Florida Scrub-Jays arrive in Florida?
The Florida Scrub-Jay is in Florida all year. It turns up on about 1.3% of checklists at its peak (late January) and on 0.5% in its quietest week (late August).
When do Florida Scrub-Jays leave Florida?
The Florida Scrub-Jay does not leave Florida: it is reported all year, from 0.5% of checklists in late August to 1.3% in late January.
When is the best time to see a Florida Scrub-Jay in Florida?
The Florida Scrub-Jay is reported most often in late January, on about 1.3% of Florida checklists.
Where in Florida are Florida Scrub-Jays seen most often?
By county, Highlands County, Martin County, and Brevard County have the highest peak reporting rates for the Florida Scrub-Jay (counties with at least 200 checklists).