Sentry Alert - Florida Scrub Jay
by Dawn Currie
Title
Sentry Alert - Florida Scrub Jay
Artist
Dawn Currie
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
Photographic art by Dawn Currie. Florida Scrub Jay sentry alerting his family at Southlake Conservation Area in Mims, Florida.
Awards and PSA International Exhibitions:
- New Year Circuit 2017 - Ruma
- Queensland International Digital Circuit Gold Coast Exhibition
- Queensland International Digital Circuit Mt Gravatt Exhibition
- Queensland International Digital Circuit Townsville Exhibition
- Three Country Grand Circuit 2016 - Montenegro
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The Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is a very curious and unafraid of humans. To their detriment they can become hand-tame in areas where it comes in contact with people. Unfortunately the salted peanuts offered by humans are extremely harmful to the species, by altering mating habits and through dehydration. This bird is also restricted to the rare oak scrub community of Florida, a habitat under constant threat of development. At this time, the Florida Scrub Jay is classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The Florida Scrub-Jay is a well-studied cooperative breeder, with most offspring staying with their parents to help them raise young for at least one year. Individual members of a Florida Scrub-Jay family take turns watching for hawks while the rest of the family looks for food. If a dangerous hawk is seen, the sentinel gives an alarm call and everyone dives for cover. A different call alerts the family to snakes and other dangers on the ground, and the entire family will join in mobbing a terrestrial predator.
The steep declines in both scrub habitat and Florida Scrub-Jay populations can be directly correlated to the expansive growth of Brevard County's human population during the past 60 years. The estimated 87% decline in Florida Scrub-Jays population was primarily due to scrub habitat loss as a result of the transformation of high, dry land into agricultural, commercial and residential land uses. The remaining scrub parcels are highly fragmented and generally provide poor quality habitat to dependent species due to long-term fire suppression. These trends, which are mirrored statewide, threaten Florida's only endemic bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay, with extinction.
Uploaded
September 15th, 2015
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Viewed 5,789 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/26/2024 at 4:50 PM
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Comments (50)
HH Photography of Florida
Congratulations Dawn! Your excellent photograph has been featured on the homepage of the Showcasing The South group. L
Luther Fine Art
Congratulations! Your fantastic photographic art has been chosen as a Camera Art Group feature! You are invited to archive your work in the Features Archive discussion as well as any other discussion in which it would fit
Judy Vincent
Beautiful capture! This will be the “Cool Colors” photo of the day on the USA Photographers group home page for 3/4/19!
William Tasker
Hi Dawn! I agree with MaryJane! This amazing image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World. L/F
MaryJane Armstrong
Dawn, this image is amazing! I'm a birder and this photo is gorgeous. Captured beautifully. f/l