Are Pinyon Jays the Next Sage Grouse?

Unknown environmental stressors threaten pinyon jay populations and the broader sagebrush ecosystem uplanders love.

I can’t help but stare through the conference room’s glass curtain wall, in awe of some of the world’s most productive wetlands on Earth. This morning, the frozen wetlands are blanketed in snow after this winter’s biggest storms pounded the area, which is great for recharging those wetlands later in the year. During spring, summer, and fall, these Great Salt Lake wetlands are so valuable, that they’ve been recognized as being globally important and critical habitat for millions of waterfowl and shorebirds.

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But we aren’t here to talk about wetlands or shorebirds. It’s the sagebrush landscapes beyond the Bear River Delta that this group of researchers, biologists, and ecologists are discussing. As I watch a meadowlark hide under snow-laden cattails, my attention snaps back to the conference room when I hear, “Pinyon jays are where greater sage-grouse were 30 years ago.”

Sage-grouse and Pinyon Jay Populations Are Declining

I love greater sage-grouse. Seriously, they are one of my favorite birds. It’s no wonder my attention was redirected by this declaration about pinyon jays and sage-grouse. I studied and worked on sage-grouse research as an undergrad and graduate student. Sage-grouse are a huge part of my career as a biologist; I help restore habitat with an overall goal of increasing their numbers so they may continue to exist for all to enjoy. Most of all, I love running my pointing dogs through sage-grouse habitat with the ultimate goal of having dogs on point while I flush them out in front.

The statement also quickly grabbed my attention because pinyon jays are a hot, even controversial, topic right now as habitat managers strive to balance the needs of both jays and grouse. One, the sage-grouse, has a story known to many. Contrastingly, the pinyon jay has a story just beginning to be told, or maybe better said, a story being discovered. We do know this, though: both birds have precipitously declined in population numbers since the 1960s. 

Sage-grouse are well known, especially to the readership of this publication. Iconic to western rangelands, they are the largest grouse species in North America. Many know them for their springtime lekking behavior of gathering together while males show dominance, trying to attract females by inflating yellow air sacs in their bouncing chests. They are a popular upland game species hunted in a few western states, a bucket list bird for many upland hunters. 

The pinyon jay is a medium-sized bird also found in western rangelands whose range overlaps with the sage-grouse. It’s a crestless jay with a body shape resembling a small crow. Because of this, it’s been known by the folk name “blue crow.” The name pinyon jay comes from their favorite food, the piñon pine nut, and they’re often found in or near piñon pine and juniper woodlands within sagebrush landscapes. Pinyon jays tend to travel in flocks, giving a kaw-like call to keep in touch with one another. They also cache food in the ground and have an incredible spatial memory, helping them return to these food caches at a later date.

Greater Sage-Grouse and Pinyon Jay Conservation

The sage-grouse has attracted national, and even international attention, with unprecedented landscape-scale habitat protection and restoration since the early 2000s. The ultimate goal is to prevent them from needing federal protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Paralleling this conservation work has been a monumental effort in research because not much was understood about sage-grouse biology and habitat use. Today, it’s been said the only species we’ve studied more in the West are mule deer, and sage-grouse are a close second. 

Fortunately, because of this research, we now very clearly understand sage-grouse habitat needs. They require large, treeless tracts of open sagebrush. “Treeless” is the keyword there. We can easily restore sage-grouse habitat by removing invading conifers (including those piñon pines and junipers where pinyon jays can be found) creeping into rolling sagebrush plains. We’ve been doing it by the thousands of acres for over a decade now. This effort has been successful at increasing sage-grouse population sustainability and preventing the need for federal ESA protection.

Like sage-grouse, since the 1960s, pinyon jay populations have followed the same dramatic downward trend in population numbers. The difference between them and sage-grouse today is we don’t know hardly know anything about pinyon jay behavior, biology, and how they use habitats across an ecosystem. Very little research has been conducted to understand jays. 

Hence why the statement, “Pinyon jays are where Greater sage-grouse were 30 years ago,” resonated with me. Just like sage-grouse of the early 2000s, conservation organizations are now calling for federal ESA protection for pinyon jays. Just like with sage-grouse, we don’t currently have the research to fully understand what is needed to conserve the jay species as a whole quite yet. Significant knowledge gaps regarding pinyon jay use of sagebrush and pinyon and juniper woodlands is hampering any effort to fully implement strategies to increase their population. 

Right now, we don’t understand if removing pinyon and juniper trees for sage-grouse negatively impacts pinyon jays, and, if it does, how?

Seeing Habitat As A Whole

Some hunters may say, “We can’t hunt pinyon jays, so who cares about their habitat?” Just like farm-raised pheasants, at times, hunters have blinders on that make it hard to see the bigger picture around us. In this instance, hunters find it hard to pay attention to what is affecting the obscure species coexisting with our favorite upland game birds. But we should care because pinyon jays share habitat with many upland species we love and hunt. 

Yes, they live among sage-grouse, but they also share their habitat with chukar, Hungarian partridge, and sharp-tailed grouse. Outside of upland game, you have mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, pronghorn, bobcats, and many other species hunters love. They all share the same habitat.   

If we view the ecosystem as a whole, the reasons to care about an obscure species nearing the threat of extinction become evident. What about the fact we should do everything we can on our watch not to let a species disappear. It is our responsibility to leave what is here today for those tomorrow. Also, if a species is disappearing from a habitat type we love to hunt upland game in, who’s to say our huntable species aren’t next? If we break something in the ecosystem, it’s our responsibility to attempt to fix it.   

Pinyon jay conservation can and does directly impact how we use sagebrush landscapes as upland hunters, recreationists, ranchers, campers, hikers, photographers, and much more. Pay very close attention because if they do end up requiring federal ESA protections, new regulations may complicate our lives as land users in sagebrush country.

A Conservation Juxtaposition

Some conservation groups are saying we need to quit, or at least dramatically slow down, removing pinyon pine and juniper woodlands as an effective restoration method for creating sage-grouse habitat because of a perceived paradox. They believe that by removing pinyon and juniper, we are removing Pinyon jay habitat. Our limited understanding of Pinyon jay habitat use is resulting in the perception that some species are winning while others are losing as successful conifer removal for sage-grouse expands. 

If you hunt sage-grouse, this should concern you. It’s a perceived juxtaposition pitting pinyon jay and sage grouse conservation against one another.

A counterpoint to this perceived paradox is the fact pinyon jay populations have declined despite dramatic increases in pinyon and juniper woodlands over the last 70 years. This interesting fact leaves many wildlife managers scratching their heads because, usually, we see species decline with the loss of their habitat; that’s what happened to sage-grouse. With the pinyon jay, we have seen the species decline during a time when pinyon and juniper habitat has increased. In recent research, Boone et al. 2018 stated pinyon jay declines are more likely caused by “changes in habitat structure and quality, landscape-scale structural changes, and pine productivity, some of which are likely mediated by changes in climate.” 

Pinyon Jays May Become Protected By The ESA

In 2022, a petition was filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) formally requesting that pinyon jays receive ESA protection. As a result, FWS found substantial evidence that a listing may be needed. As of now, FWS is conducting a thorough review of pinyon jay populations. Then, the agency will make a final determination as to whether federal ESA protection is necessary or not. When making these decisions, FWS considers a diverse set of factors affecting species conservation, such as current threats, future threats, habitat, and regulatory mechanisms protecting species. A decision is expected soon.    

A good thing we have going for us is that we have a successful model of averting federal ESA protection for a sagebrush bird species while increasing population numbers with sage-grouse. Many hope this proven conservation model of applied research and habitat restoration can be used with the pinyon jay during the next few decades. In an ideal future, we will tell the same success story about pinyon jays as we are about sage-grouse; ramped-up research, knowledge, and conservation work led to more habitat and more pinyon jays without the need for ESA protection.

Protecting Sage Grouse and Pinyon Jays For the Future

I envision a future where my posterity two, three, four generations from now still bounce down a dusty pitted dirt road with bird dogs in the bed of a truck. A world where flocks of pinyon jays fly over a dog pointing a flock of sage-grouse. A world where, perhaps like me, my future bloodline designs sagebrush habitat restoration projects for sage-grouse and pinyon jays alike, but with a greater scientific understanding of how one bird’s needs influence the other’s. 

As upland enthusiasts, we need to support conservation and research of all sorts, not just projects focused on huntable species. Whether it be bats, bees, songbirds, plants, soils, snakes (yes, even snakes), or the pinyon jay, that research needs support. If the ecosystem isn’t functioning with all its parts working as a whole, then the habitat isn’t fully functioning for our huntable species, either. 

This whole-ecosystem-function thing reminds me of a recent experience with a fancy outdoor lounging chair I purchased. The chair came in a box and required me to put it together. During the process, I found out I was missing a small bolt. I was able to get the chair together nicely and considered the little bolt meaningless to overall functionality as I sat and reclined proudly. I used the chair all summer long and loved reclining in the cool summer shade of my back porch. Suddenly, after months of use, the chair folded and sandwiched me inside. The missing little bolt wasn’t so meaningless after all. The chair failed where the missing bolt should have been because of slow incremental pressure at an adjacent joint. Little by little, the stress of the missing piece compounded until, one day, the whole system fell apart. 

If we ignore the pinyon jay and deem it insignificant to the landscape, little by little, the stress causing pinyon jays to decline might cause a much larger system to collapse, negatively affecting what we love, including our iconic sage-grouse and many other species.