Pinyon Jay Awareness walk is back on for Sunday, October 19, 8:00 am. Join us in Flagstaff for a bird walk looking for Pinyon Jays. These Jays have been spotted at the location we will caravan to.
Leaders: Grant Pegram, Harry Jones, and Andrew Haverdink.
Date: Sunday, October 19, 2025
Time: 8:00 am - 11:00. If jays are found early, the trip could be shortened.
Location: Meet at Harkins Theater, north side of the parking lot. We will combine cars into high-clearance vehicles and head out to the most recent spot where they have been sighted.
Birders will be taught how to survey using Survey123. To sign up for this app contact Cathy Wise of Southwest Audubon (Cathy.Wise@audubon.org)
The earlier the better. It takes a few days to be added to the Southwest Audubon project. The app is intuitive and easy to use.
Other Pinyon Jay events were held:
October 1: Bird Trivia Night at Drinking Horn Meadery, Flagstaff. Celebrate the release of Oh Hey, Pinyon Jay mead, crafted with juniper berries, prickly pear, and local honey.
October 8: Monitoring Volunteering. Want to help monitor Pinyon Jays? Join Audubon Southwest’s webinar to learn how to take part in bird counts and citizen science. Register for this event here.
All events are free.
About Pinyon Jays
You see a flash of blue. Is it a Stellar Jay? A Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay? No — it’s a Pinyon Jay.
This brilliant blue bird can be found across the West, including northern Arizona, living in pinyon-juniper woodlands. Unfortunately, over the past five decades, the Pinyon Jay has seen its population decline by 83.5%.
This steep decline has led to the Pinyon Jay being listed as Vulnerable and currently under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for potential protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The reasons for this decline are not fully understood, but it is likely linked to long-term drought, increasing temperatures, and other climatic shifts affecting pinyon trees. Research suggests these changes are causing pinyon pines to produce fewer nuts. Pinyon Jays appear to be ranging further from historic colony sites and may be relying more heavily on alternative food sources, such as juniper berries and insects.
