An excerpt from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Entry on The Florida Scrub Jay

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       "The Florida scrub-jay is the only species of bird that is unique to Florida.  Scrub-jays inhabit sand pine and xeric oak scrub, and scrubby flatwoods, which occur in some of the highest and driest areas of Florida – ancient sandy ridges that run down the middle of the state, old sand dunes along the coasts, and sandy deposits along rivers in the interior of the state.  Scrub-jays do best in areas that contain large quantities of oak shrubs that average 3.28-6.56 feet (one to two meters) (C. Faulhaber pers comm. 2011)."

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"The primary threats to the Florida scrub-jay are habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation from development and agriculture.  Much of the scrub-jay's habitat has been altered for agricultural lands and development (C. Faulhaber pers comm. 2011).  Habitat fragmentation is steadily increasing, and in turn causes populations to become smaller and more isolated.  Increasing fragmentation causes populations to spread further apart.  As populations become further apart, fewer scrub-jays are able to travel between the patches of habitat as they typically do not travel long distances (C. Faulhaber pers comm. 2011).  Small populations are at risk of disappearing because of this.  Fire suppression degrades the scrub-jay’s habitat, as the habitat becomes too dense and tall to support the species.  The scrub-jay population has declined 90% in the past century due to these threats (Florida Natural Areas Inventory 2001).  Vehicle strikes are particularly dangerous to the population as the rate at which breeders die exceeds the rate at which young scrub-jays are produced (Johnson et al. 2009)."

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The Florida scrub-jay is protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  It is also protected as a Threatened species by the Federal Endangered Species Act and as a Federally-designated Threatened species by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule .  Prescribed burning is an essential element to conserving the Florida scrub-jay.