South · Atlantic Flyway

Jays in Florida

Jays in Florida come down to 2 species with regular eBird records, led by the Blue Jay. Together they account for 763,953 of the 32 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 2.4% of everything reported in the state.

The full list: Blue Jay and Florida Scrub-Jay. Jays are the loud, intelligent, boldly colored members of the crow family. The Blue Jay dominates the East; the West has its own set — scrub-jays, Steller's Jay, Pinyon Jay, and the Canada Jay of the high forests — and the two sides overlap only along the Rockies.

Blue Jay, the most-reported of the jays in Florida on eBird — Blue Jay, the most-reported jay in Florida. Photo: Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

2Species regularly recorded

2Year-round residents

0Seasonal visitors

763,953eBird records analysed

Jays in Florida: every species, most-reported first

Every jay with at least 25 eBird records in the state from 2020–2024, most-reported first. The status label is derived from each species’ own monthly share of all state records.

Blue JayCyanocitta cristataYear-round743,299 eBird records · 2.3% of state records

Florida Scrub-JayAphelocoma coerulescensYear-round20,654 eBird records · 0.06% of state records

1. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) — 743,299 records, 2.3% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.

2. Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) — 20,654 records, 0.06% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.

When to see jays in Florida

Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, jays are most prominent in September, October and July and least in January and December. All of the 2 species are year-round — Blue Jay and Florida Scrub-Jay — so there is no month without them.

Attracting jays to Florida backyards

Peanuts in the shell are the classic jay food; whole corn and sunflower work too. Jays cache what they cannot eat, so a platform feeder will empty faster than you expect.

In Florida the jay most likely to turn up is the Blue Jay, a year-round resident, followed by the Florida Scrub-Jay. Its own page covers month-by-month activity and attraction tips for this state.

All birds in Florida →Feeder guides →Florida native plants →

Jays in Florida: FAQ

How many species of jays are there in Florida?

2 species of jays have regular eBird records in Florida (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Blue Jay and Florida Scrub-Jay.

What is the most common jay in Florida?

The Blue Jay, with 743,299 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Florida Scrub-Jay with 20,654. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.

When is the best time to see jays in Florida?

Any time of year — every jay regularly recorded in Florida is a year-round resident. Their combined share of eBird records is highest in September, October and July.

Are there jays in Florida?

Yes. the Blue Jay (743,299 eBird records, year-round) and the Florida Scrub-Jay (20,654 eBird records, year-round) are regularly recorded in Florida.

Jays in Florida: sources

Every number on this page comes from the EOD – eBird Observation Dataset published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and distributed through GBIF under a CC BY 4.0 license: Florida records from 2020–2024, retrieved 2026-09-18. Species are drawn from the families Corvidae; only species with at least 25 records are listed, and a species is called a year-round resident when its monthly share of state records stays above 30% of its own peak in ten or more months. “Records” are individual eBird observations, so they reflect how often birders report a species, not a population count.