Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, June 1. I’m Scott Sandell, newsletter editor at The Times, and I’m writing from Los Angeles. Two weeks from today, ...

DEAR JOAN: A few months ago, I wrote that there were no birds in our yard despite years of hummingbirds, chickadees, titmice, etc. You suggested they might be mating and would be back soon. We still ...

California scrub jays are a joy to watch. They are confident, inquisitive, animated, thoughtful, vocal and can authentically mimic other birds. They’ve been observed imitating the calls of red-tailed ...

DEAR JOAN: Surrounding our yard are many trees that attract many birds. At least there used to be many birds until a dominant scrub-jay — or jays — decided to make our backyard their own private ...

The Florida scrub jay is like a lot of Floridians; the bold bird with a bright sky-blue head and grey underbelly is descended from tourists who never left, and seemingly just wanders into political ...

The California scrub-jay, a generally non-social bird, can learn just as well as another species of jay that lives in groups, a finding that surprised animal intelligence researchers who devised a ...

One of my favorite signs of fall is to watch the scrub-jays gather acorns from the oaks. Some people have little fondness for jays. They see them as loud and bullying, sometimes preying on the eggs ...