Brown Jay
Cyanocorax morio
Well-named: this distinctive large jay is the color of dark chocolate with paler grayish belly. Sexes alike; juveniles similar to adults but with yellow legs, bill, and eyering. Long tail and floppy flight with deep wingbeats. Common and conspicuous in Mexico and Central America, with very limited range in U.S. Found in small groups in wooded habitats, often near water. Sometimes seen at bird feeders. Listen for very loud calls "kleer, Kleer, kleer."
Identification
Brown jays vary in plumage geographically: there are two main groups. Northern birds are almost completely dark brown, with lighter brown on the underparts. Southern birds are white-bellied and have bright white tips to the outer tail feathers. The intergrade zone is in Veracruz, Mexico.<p>Adults in both populations have black bills, legs, and feet. Immatures have yellow bare parts, including yellow eye-rings.<p>The voice is a loud but low-pitched pee-ah call and is often modified to suit its situation or mood.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cyanocorax morio
- Authority
- (Wagler, 1829)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Cyanocorax
Range and habitat
It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. The northernmost extent of the bird is in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. In Central America, the brown jay is not found in El Salvador.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Food is sought largely in trees but brown jays also take some food from the ground. They are rather indiscriminate feeders. Insects and a wide range of other invertebrates are taken, also lizards, nectar, and fruit (e.g. that of Trophis racemosa in the Moraceae). Though they will take eggs and nestlings, they appear not to if there is plenty of other food available.<p>The nest is built in a tree or large shrub with both sexes helping in construction. There are normally three eggs laid but six is not unusual. Incubation is between 18 and 20 days. Only the female broods but the male feeds her while doing so.<p>Sometimes the offspring from a previous season will help in raising the chicks. If a helper bird returns with food, it will give it to one of the resident parents to feed the chicks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Plumbeous Sierra Finch
Geospizopsis unicolor
This common finch is found in open areas in the Andes from Venezuela to southernmost Argentina. Males are uniform bluish-gray with no distinct markings. Females in the northern part of its range are brown and streaky all over; in the south, females are grayer with fainter streaking. Both sexes have dull pinkish legs. Look for small flocks foraging on the ground in grasslands and open rocky areas, usually at elevations above 3,000 m, but descends much lower in southern South America. Sometimes mixes with other finches.
Bonin White-eye
Apalopteron familiare
Unique and unmistakable inhabitant of the central and southern Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands. Gray-olive with a yellow head and strange triangular black mask. Found in a range of different habitats on the Ogasawaras, from remnant native vegetation to cultivated gardens. Feeds on the ground and at all levels of vegetation, often in pairs or small flocks. Gives sweet “deeeyu” and sharp metallic squeaks, amongst other vocalizations.
White Hawk
Pseudastur albicollis
Spectacular, broad-winged, short-tailed hawk of lowland tropical forest. Usually seen soaring in mid-late morning or perched quietly in the forest canopy. Basically unmistakable, but beware of rare albino forms of other hawks. Plumage is white overall with black wingtips and a black tail band. Immature has more black on wings, as do adults of populations in southern Central America. Note dark eyes and pale grayish base to the bill (versus yellow on most hawks).
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