The Island Scrub-Jay(Aphelocoma insularis) holds a unique title: the only island endemic bird species of mainland North America. Once part of the species known simply as Scrub Jay which was split into separate species in 1998, the Island Scrub-Jay is noticeably larger and more brightly-colored than its near relatives, including the Florida Scrub-Jay(Aphelocoma coerulescens). Fossil remains suggest that it probably diverged from its closest relative, the California Scrub-Jay(Aphelocoma californica), about 150,000 years ago.
Like other species endemic to islands, such as Darwin’s famous finches and birds of the Hawaiian archipelago, including the Palila, ‘I’iwi, and Kiwikiu, the Island Scrub-Jay evolved specialized adaptations in isolation, illustrating Darwin’s famous theory of evolution. But the Island Scrub-Jay takes this theory a step further. How is this bird providing additional data about the ways in which species evolve?
Read on to find out more: https://abcbirds.org/bird/island-scrub-jay/
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