| Black-throated magpie-jay | |
|---|---|
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| In the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Florida | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Cyanocorax |
| Species: | C. colliei |
| Binomial name | |
| Cyanocorax colliei (Vigors, 1829) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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The black-throated magpie-jay (Cyanocorax colliei) is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico.
The black-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1829 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors from a specimen collected at San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. The specimen had been obtained by members of an expedition to explore the western coast of North America captained by Frederick William Beechey on HMS Blossom . Vigors coined the binomial name Pica colleriei, with the specific epithet chosen to honour Alexander Collie, the surgeon on board the Blossom, who had presented the specimen to the Zoological Society of London. [2] [3] The black-throated magpie-jay and the white-throated magpie-jay were formerly placed in their own genus Calocitta. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Cyanocorax was paraphyletic relative to Calocitta, [4] [5] the two species were subsumed into Cyanocorax to resolve the paraphyly. [6] [7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [6]
This species is 58.5 to 76.5 cm (23.0 to 30.1 in) long, more than half of which is the tail, and weight is 225–251 g (7.9–8.9 oz). [8] Only a very few corvids, including the black-billed magpie, the red-billed blue magpie and the closely related white-throated magpie-jay, have a comparable tail length. The upperparts are blue with white tips to the tail feathers; the underparts are white. The bill, legs, head, and conspicuous crest are black except for a pale blue crescent over the eyes and a patch under the eye. In juveniles, the crest has a white tip and the patch below the eye is smaller and darker blue than in adults. In most birds, the throat and chest are also black, but some in the southern part of the range have various amounts of white there. [9]
The calls are varied, loud, raucous, sometimes parrot-like. [9]
This species occurs in pairs or small groups in woodland, except for humid woodland, and partially open areas on the Pacific Slope of Mexico from southern Sonora south to Jalisco and northwestern Colima, [9] for a total of 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi). As of 1993 there was some evidence of a population decline. [1]
The species has become established in southern San Diego County (2013), especially in the Tijuana River Valley. The birds are presumably descendants of escapees from nearby Tijuana, Baja California, where the trade in birds is unregulated.
The diet is the omnivorous one typical of the crow family.
The nest is also typical of the family: a big cup of sticks lined with softer material. The female lays 3 to 7 whitish eggs with brown and gray spots. [9]
This species interbreeds with the white-throated magpie-jay in Jalisco and Colima, where intermediate birds are common. It has been considered a subspecies of the white-throated magpie-jay, Calocitta formosa colliei. [9]
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 139 species are included in this family. The genus Corvus containing 50 species makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids (ravens) are the largest passerines.
The green jay is a species of the New World jays, found in Central America, Mexico, and South Texas. Adults are about 27 cm (11 in) long and variable in color across their range; they usually have blue and black heads, green wings and mantle, bluish-green tails, black bills, yellow or brown eye rings, and dark legs. The basic diet consists of arthropods, vertebrates, seeds, and fruit. The nest is usually built in a thorny bush; the female incubates the clutch of three to five eggs. This is a common species of jay with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Cyanocorax is a genus of New World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae. It contains several closely related species that primarily are found in wooded habitats, chiefly in lowland tropical rainforest but in some cases also in seasonally dry forest, grassland and montane forest. They occur from Mexico through Central into southern South America, with the green jay and brown jay just entering the United States in southernmost Texas, ad the Azure and Plush-crested jays occurring southwards to the lower Paraná River basin. This genus is considered especially close to Cyanolyca, an upland radiation occurring throughout the American Cordillera from Mexico to Peru and Bolivia, who look very similar to the blue-and-black species of Cyanocorax except for being a bit smaller. The North American blue jay genera Aphelocoma, Cyanocitta and Gymnorhinus seem to be slightly less closely related.
The brown jay is a large jay native to Central America and southern Texas.
The double-barred finch is an estrildid finch found in dry savannah, tropical (lowland) dry grassland and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or as the owl finch, the latter of which owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face. It is the only species placed in the genus Stizoptera .
The Mexican jay formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a cooperative breeding system where the parents are assisted by other birds to raise their young. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The white-throated magpie-jay is a large Central American species of magpie-jay. It ranges in Pacific-slope thorn forest from Jalisco, Mexico, to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers.
The Japanese sparrowhawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. The bird is known by many alternative names such as the Japanese lesser, Asiatic, or Eastern sparrowhawk. This species is a small raptor with broader and rounder wings and a shorter tail. Its total length measures 23–30 centimetres (9.1–11.8 in). It has a dark back and whitish underside with brown-grey barring and red-brown colouring on the sides in males, and with heavier brown barring on the abdomen in females. Both sexes have a stripe across the throat, but its more obvious in the female. Is it typically identified by its appearance, but occasionally produces a chattering kiki-kik-kik... sound. This species generally breeds in parts of Russia, Korea, Japan, and China. There are three subspecies of Japanese sparrowhawk that differ by distribution and appearance. The species is globally listed as least concern, although it is listed as endangered in Japan and protected in China.
The purple-naped lory is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is forest-dwelling endemic to the islands of Seram, Ambon, and perhaps also Haruku and Saparua, South Maluku, Indonesia. It is considered endangered, the main threat being from trapping for the cage-bird trade.
The blue seedeater, or Cabanis's seedeater, is a species of bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae that is found in southern Mexico and Central America. The Ecuadorian seedeater was formerly considered as a subspecies.
The Cayenne jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.
The tufted jay, also known as the painted jay and Dickey's jay, is a species of bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is endemic to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Sinaloa, Durango, and Nayarit in Mexico. A distinctive large jay, it has a prominent dark crest on its head; purplish blue back, wings, and face; a white spot above the eye and on the cheek; white undersides; and a partially white tail. Its typical call is a quick, four note vocalization.
The white-tailed jay, also known as the moustached jay, is a species of bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. It has a black face with white spots above and below the eyes, and a small white moustachial stripe. It has a white nape, belly, and underparts. Its back and wings are greyish-blue, extending most of the way down the tail. The retrices and tail tip are white. It has several calls, the most common being described as "cha-cha-cha-cha".
The San Blas jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is endemic to Mexico where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests; it is a common species and has been rated as "least concern" by the IUCN.
The Yucatan jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae, the crows and their allies. It is native to the Yucatán Peninsula where its habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, plantations and cleared areas at altitudes up to 250 m (820 ft). Adults are about 30 cm (12 in) long, black, with blue wings, mantle, and tail, black bills, yellow eye rings and legs. Immature birds have yellow bills. This is a common species of jay with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Psittacara is a genus of parakeets in the tribe Arini. Species of the genus are found in Central and South America, the Caribbean and one species reaching the southern United States. Until 2013, all the species were placed in the genus Aratinga. Many of the Psittacara species are kept in aviculture or as companion parrots, where they are commonly known as conures.
The Sinaloan dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western Mexico. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the Neotropical realm.
La Primavera Biosphere Reserve, also known as La Primavera Flora and Fauna Protection Area, is a protected natural area in western Mexico. It is located in the state of Jalisco, immediately west of the city of Guadalajara.
The southern nutcracker is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the northern nutcracker and the Kashmir nutcracker under the English name "spotted nutcracker".
