jay¹

 

common name for a number of birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays), found in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The best-known representatives in America are the blue jay, Cyanocitta cristata, and the Canada jay. The Canada jay is gray, about 12 in. (30 cm) long, with a white throat and forehead and black nape; it has no crest. Found in northern coniferous forests and swamps, it is known for its habit of stealing bright objects, and is called locally camp robber, whisky jack, and moose bird. The common jay is of wide distribution and is hunted for game in England and Europe. The female lays from five to seven eggs per clutch, and the male helps incubate them. The Florida, or scrub, jay has blue markings and no crest. The European jay is fawn-colored, with a black and white crest and wings of black, white, and blue. Jays are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Corvidae.

Jays
Blue Jay
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae
Genera
Garrulus Podoces Ptilostomus Perisoreus Aphelocoma Gymnorhinus Cyanocitta Calocitta Cyanocorax Cyanolyca

The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the actual evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay than to the Oriental Blue and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay is not closely related to either.

Systematics and species

See classification box for relevant genera links. The Crested Jay (Platylophus galericulatus) is traditionally placed here, but apparently this is not correct, as suggested by anatomical and molecular evidence^{[citation needed]}. Its placement remains unresolved; it does not seem to be a corvid at all. It should be noted that according to the research of Ericson et al. (2005), jays are not a monophyletic group. Rather, they can be divided into an American and an Old World lineage (the latter including the ground jays and the Piapiac), while the gray jays of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. The Black Magpie, formerly believed to be related to jays, is actually a treepie.

Old World ("brown") jays

• Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius
• Lanceolated Jay, Garrulus lanceolatus
• Lidth's Jay, Garrulus lidthi

• Henderson's Ground Jay, Podoces hendersoni
• Biddulph's Ground Jay, Podoces biddulphi
• Persian Ground Jay, Podoces pleskei
• Grey Ground Jay, Podoces panderi

• Piapiac, Ptilostomus afer

Grey jays

• Siberian Jay, Perisoreus infaustus
• Sichuan Jay, Perisoreus internigrans
• Gray Jay, or Canada Jay or Whiskeyjack Perisoreus canadensis

American ("blue") jays

• Florida Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens
• Island Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma insularis
• Western Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
• Mexican Jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina
• Unicolored Jay, Aphelocoma unicolor

• Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

• Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
• Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

• Black-throated Magpie-jay, Calocitta colliei
• White-throated Magpie-jay, Calocitta formosa

• Black-chested Jay, Cyanocorax affinis
• Green Jay, Cyanocorax yncas
• Brown Jay, Cyanocorax morio
• Bushy-crested Jay, Cyanocorax melanocyaneus
• San Blas Jay, Cyanocorax sanblasianus
• Yucatan Jay, Cyanocorax yucatanicus
• Purplish-backed Jay, Cyanocorax beecheii
• Purplish Jay, Cyanocorax cyanomelas
• Azure Jay, Cyanocorax caeruleus
• Violaceous Jay, Cyanocorax violaceus
• Curl-crested Jay, Cyanocorax cristatellus
• Azure-naped Jay, Cyanocorax heilprini
• Cayenne Jay, Cyanocorax cayanus
• Plush-crested Jay, Cyanocorax chrysops
• White-naped Jay, Cyanocorax cyanopogon
• White-tailed Jay, Cyanocorax mystacalis

• Black-collared Jay, Cyanolyca armillata
• Turquoise Jay, Cyanolyca turcosa
• White-collared Jay, Cyanolyca viridicyana
• Azure-hooded Jay, Cyanolyca cucullata
• Beautiful Jay, Cyanolyca pulchra
• Black-throated Jay, Cyanolyca pumilo
• Dwarf Jay, Cyanolyca nana
• Silvery-throated Jay, Cyanolyca argentigula
• White-throated Jay, Cyanolyca mirabilis

See also treepies, magpies, nutcrackers and crows.

Jays in culture

Slang

• The word "jay" has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a stupid or dull person, from which is derived the term jaywalking ("jay-walker". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.).

Organizational symbols

• The Toronto Blue Jays, a Major League Baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario.

• The Arizona Jays, a World Football League team of the Pacific Conference.

References

• Ericson, Per G. P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S. & Ekman, Jan (2005): Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data. Journal of Avian Biology 36: 222-234. PDF fulltext

External links

• Jay videos on the Internet Bird Collection

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