Beautiful Jay
Cyanolyca pulchra
Blue and gray jay with a black mask and white crown. It’s restricted to Andean cloud forest in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Similar to both Turquoise and Black-collared Jays, but lacks the black breast band and has a dark gray back and breast. Noisy groups roam widely through the forest, giving a fun variety of strange calls, some of which sound like they came straight from an 80’s arcade game.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cyanolyca pulchra
- Authority
- (Lawrence, 1876)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Cyanolyca
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Baird's Trogon
Trogon bairdii
Unique trogon with dark purplish head and breast, turquoise back, white undertail, and pale blue bill and eyering. No white band between chest and belly. Female mostly gray with red belly, perhaps most similar to Slaty-tailed Trogon but note pale blue eyering, gray bill, and thin white bars on undertail. Limited range. Look for a bird sitting upright and still at middle levels in the forest, slowly turning head searching for prey. Usually single or in pairs. Song is a fairly fast, accelerating series of cluck notes.
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
Merops leschenaulti
Beautiful, dainty bee-eater with a bright reddish head and yellow throat. Dark “necktie” most noticeable when in flight overhead. Inhabits forest edge, wooded clearings, and open areas with clusters of trees; often uses exposed perches. Some populations undertake regional movements, vacating breeding grounds after the monsoons pass. Often gives bright chirrupy calls.
Beautiful Nuthatch
Sitta formosa
An unmistakable and fairly uncommon large nuthatch: combination of orange belly, white face, and dazzling blue banding on the wings is unique in its family. Forages in primary forests, probing beneath bark, leaves, and treetop vegetation. Joins mixed-species flocks.
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