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The jays are several species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the crow
Crow

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small dove-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several offsh...
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Corvidae
Corvidae

Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rook s, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, Pyrrhocorax and nutcracker ....
. The names jay and magpie
Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family , Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds....
 are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Jay

The Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia....
 than to the Oriental Blue
Urocissa

Urocissa is a genus of birds in the huge Passerine order in the family Corvidae. It consists of mainly brightly coloured magpies in Asia.Species in the genus Urocissa:...
 and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay
Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue" or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays....
 is not closely related to either.

Systematics and species
See classification box for relevant genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 links.






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The jays are several species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the crow
Crow

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small dove-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several offsh...
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Corvidae
Corvidae

Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rook s, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, Pyrrhocorax and nutcracker ....
. The names jay and magpie
Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family , Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds....
 are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Jay

The Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia....
 than to the Oriental Blue
Urocissa

Urocissa is a genus of birds in the huge Passerine order in the family Corvidae. It consists of mainly brightly coloured magpies in Asia.Species in the genus Urocissa:...
 and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay
Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue" or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays....
 is not closely related to either.

Systematics and species


See classification box for relevant genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 links. Traditionally, the Crested Jay
Crested Jay

The Crested Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Platylophus.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand....
 (Platylophus galericulatus) is placed here, but apparently this is not correct, as suggested by anatomical and molecular evidence. 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
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 and an Old World
Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
 lineage (the latter including the ground jay
Ground jay

The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus Podoces of the crow family Corvidae....
s and the Piapiac
Piapiac

The Piapiac is a member of the crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. According to recent findings, it is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays ....
), while the gray jay
Gray Jay

The Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, is a member of the crow and jay family found in the boreal forests across North America north to the tree-line and in subalpine forests of the Rocky Mountains south to New Mexico and Arizona....
s of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. The Black Magpie
Black Magpie

The Black Magpie is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Platysmurus.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand....
, formerly believed to be related to jays, is classified as a treepie
Treepie

The treepies comprise four closely related genera of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. They are highly arboreal and rarely come to the ground to feed....
.

Old World ("brown") jays
  • Eurasian Jay
    Eurasian Jay

    The Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia....
    , Garrulus glandarius
  • Lanceolated Jay
    Lanceolated Jay

    The Lanceolated Jay or Black-headed Jay is roughly the same size as its close relative the Eurasian Jay, but a little more slender overall except for the bill which is slightly shorter and thicker....
    , Garrulus lanceolatus
  • Lidth's Jay
    Lidth's Jay

    The Lidth's Jay is slightly larger than its close relative the Eurasian Jay, with a proportionately stouter bill and also a longer tail. It has no discernible crest, with the head feathers a velvety black, the shoulders and back a deep purplish blue and all other parts a rich chestnut purple....
    , 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
    Piapiac

    The Piapiac is a member of the crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. According to recent findings, it is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays ....
    , Ptilostomus afer


Grey jays
  • Siberian Jay
    Siberian Jay

    The Siberian Jay Perisoreus infaustus, is a jay who is found in north Eurasia. The species has a wide range and a large global population ....
    , Perisoreus infaustus
  • Sichuan Jay
    Sichuan Jay

    The Sichuan Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is Endemism to China....
    , Perisoreus internigrans
  • Gray Jay
    Gray Jay

    The Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, is a member of the crow and jay family found in the boreal forests across North America north to the tree-line and in subalpine forests of the Rocky Mountains south to New Mexico and Arizona....
    , or Canada Jay or Whiskeyjack Perisoreus canadensis


American ("blue") jays
  • Florida Scrub Jay
    Florida Scrub Jay

    The Florida Scrub Jay is one of the species of scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird Endemism in birds to the U.S. state of Florida....
    , Aphelocoma coerulescens
  • Island Scrub Jay
    Island Scrub Jay

    The Island Scrub-Jay or Island Jay is one of the species of Aphelocoma native to North America and is endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California....
    , Aphelocoma insularis
  • Western Scrub Jay
    Western Scrub Jay

    The Western Scrub-Jay ,also known as California Jay or Long-tailed Jay , is a species of scrub-jay native to western North America, ranging from southern Washington to central Texas and central Mexico....
    , Aphelocoma californica
  • Mexican Jay
    Mexican Jay

    The Mexican Jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina, formerly known as the Gray-breasted Jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Cordillera Neovolcanica of Mexico....
    , Aphelocoma ultramarina
  • Unicolored Jay
    Unicolored Jay

    The Unicolored Jay is an scrub jay jay native to cloud forests of northwestern Central America and southern and southeastern Mexico, from central Honduras west to central Guerrero, southern Veracruz and extreme southern San Luis Potosi....
    , Aphelocoma unicolor


  • Pinyon Jay
    Pinyon Jay

    The Pinyon Jay is a jay between the North American Blue Jay and the Eurasian Jay in size. It is the only member of the genus Gymnorhinus, ....
    , Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus


  • Steller's Jay
    Steller's Jay

    The Steller's Jay is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body....
    , Cyanocitta stelleri
  • Blue Jay
    Blue Jay

    The Blue Jay is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue" or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays....
    , Cyanocitta cristata


  • Black-throated Magpie-jay
    Black-throated Magpie-jay

    The Black-throated Magpie-jay is a strikingly long-tailed jay of northwestern Mexico....
    , Calocitta colliei
  • White-throated Magpie-jay
    White-throated Magpie-jay

    The White-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta formosa, is a large Central American jay species. It ranges in Pacific-slope thornforest from Jalisco, Mexico to Guanacaste, Costa Rica....
    , Calocitta formosa


  • Tufted Jay
    Tufted Jay

    The Tufted Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is Endemism to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Sinaloa and Durango in Mexico....
    , Cyanocorax dickeyi
  • Black-chested Jay
    Black-chested Jay

    The Black-chested Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest....
    , Cyanocorax affinis
  • Green Jay
    Green Jay

    The Green Jay is a bird species of the New World jays, which exhibits distinct regional variations within its large but discontinuous range. This stretches from southern Texas south into Mexico and Central America, with a break before the species reappears in a broad sweep across the highlands of South America in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuado...
    , Cyanocorax ynca
  • Brown Jay
    Brown Jay

    The Brown Jay is a large American Jay which has the habitus of a magpie, but is slightly smaller and with a shorter tail, though the bill is larger....
    ,     Cyanocorax morio
  • Bushy-crested Jay
    Bushy-crested Jay

    The Bushy-crested Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest....
    ,     Cyanocorax melanocyaneus
  • San Blas Jay
    San Blas Jay

    The San Blas Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is Endemism to Mexico.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
    ,     Cyanocorax sanblasianus
  • Yucatan Jay
    Yucatan Jay

    The Yucatan Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family, the crows and their allies.It is found in Belize, Guatemala, and southern Mexico....
    ,     Cyanocorax yucatanicus
  • Purplish-backed Jay
    Purplish-backed Jay

    The Purplish-backed Jay, Cyanocorax beecheii, is a bird of the crow family Corvidae, with purple feathers on its back and black feathers everwhere else....
    ,     Cyanocorax beecheii
  • Purplish Jay
    Purplish Jay

    The Purplish Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest....
    ,     Cyanocorax cyanomelas
  • Azure Jay
    Azure Jay

    The Azure Jay is a passeriform bird of the crow family Corvidae, with body length of approximately 40cm, its blue colouration is intense with black feathers on the head, on the front part of the neck, and on the upper chest....
    ,     Cyanocorax caeruleus
  • Violaceous Jay
    Violaceous Jay

    The Violaceous Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family, the crows and their allies.It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela....
    ,     Cyanocorax violaceus
  • Curl-crested Jay
    Curl-crested Jay

    The Curl-crested Jay is a jay from South America.This New World or "blue" jay is a beautiful and large bird with predominantly dark blue back, an almost black head and neck, and snow-white chest and underparts....
    ,     Cyanocorax cristatellus
  • Azure-naped Jay
    Azure-naped Jay

    The Azure-naped Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland....
    ,     Cyanocorax heilprini
  • Cayenne Jay
    Cayenne Jay

    The Cayenne Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest....
    ,     Cyanocorax cayanus
  • Plush-crested Jay
    Plush-crested Jay

    The Plush-crested Jay is a jay of the Corvidae family, which includes the crows and their many allies. It is found in central-southern South America in southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, including southern regions of the Amazon Basin river systems, bordering the Pantanal....
    ,     Cyanocorax chrysops
  • White-naped Jay
    White-naped Jay

    The White-naped Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is Endemism to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
    ,     Cyanocorax cyanopogon
  • White-tailed Jay
    White-tailed Jay

    The White-tailed Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Ecuador and Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
    ,     Cyanocorax mystacalis


  • Black-collared Jay
    Black-collared Jay

    The Black-collared Jay or Collared Jay Cyanolyca armillata, is a jay....
    ,     Cyanolyca armillata
  • Turquoise Jay
    Turquoise Jay

    The Turquoise Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca turcosa
  • White-collared Jay
    White-collared Jay

    The White-collared Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Bolivia and Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest....
    ,     Cyanolyca viridicyana
  • Azure-hooded Jay
    Azure-hooded Jay

    The Azure-hooded Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca cucullata
  • Beautiful Jay
    Beautiful Jay

    The Beautiful Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca pulchra
  • Black-throated Jay
    Black-throated Jay

    The Black-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca pumilo
  • Dwarf Jay
    Dwarf Jay

    The Dwarf Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is Endemism to Mexico.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca nana
  • Silvery-throated Jay
    Silvery-throated Jay

    The Silvery-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
    ,     Cyanolyca argentigula
  • White-throated Jay
    White-throated Jay

    The White-throated Jay is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is Endemism to Mexico....
    ,     Cyanolyca mirabilis


Also see treepie
Treepie

The treepies comprise four closely related genera of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. They are highly arboreal and rarely come to the ground to feed....
s, magpie
Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family , Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds....
s, nutcrackers
Nutcracker (bird)

The nutcrackers are a genus of two species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows. One, the Spotted Nutcracker , occurs in Europe and Asia, the other, Clark's Nutcracker , in western North America....
, and crow
Crow

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small dove-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several offsh...
s.

In culture


Slang

The word "jay" has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning an impertinent person.

The term jaywalking
Jaywalking

Jaywalking is an informal term used to refer to illegal or reckless pedestrian crossing of a roadway. Examples include a pedestrian crossing between intersections without yielding to drivers and starting to cross a crosswalk at a traffic signal without waiting for a permissive indication to be displayed....
 was coined in 1915 to label persons crossing a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard. The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established. .

External links

  • on the Internet Bird Collection