Pinyon jays like to announce themselves with a chuckling kind of call, sung out while they fly overhead or settle into chatty flocks, often perched in the branches of the pine tree with which they share a name. In the Southwest, the medium-size, dusky-blue bird with a sharp bill has long been a familiar face. Dozens commonly filled the sky at a time.
But volunteers in the North American Breeding Bird Survey program have documented pinyon jay numbers in persistent and worrying decline over the last 50 years. Those once massive flocks have become rare sightings. Yet a research team that systematically surveys the Gila National Forest has suggested it may be a hot spot, where this imperiled bird has found something particularly important to their abilities
