Cyanocorax | |
---|---|
Plush-crested jay, Cyanocorax chrysops | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Corvidae |
Subfamily: | Cyanocoracinae |
Genus: | Cyanocorax F. Boie, 1826 |
Type species | |
Corvus pileatus [1] Temminck, 1821 | |
Species | |
20, see text | |
Synonyms | |
CalocittaG. R. Gray, 1841 Contents |
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. [2]
Cyanocorax jays are generally black-and-blue, often with considerable amounts of white plumage, but brown or yellow to green in a few species. Some species have elongated neck plumes, some others have crests or bristle tufts on the forehead; a few have patches of bare skin on the face. The eyes are bright yellow in just over half the species, the bills black in adults (yellow to pinkish in juveniles), and the feet usually black, but brown or yellow in a few species. [3]
The genus Cyanocorax was described by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826, with the plush-crested jay as the type species. [4] [5] The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek words κυανος (kuanos), meaning "dark blue", and κοραξ (korax), meaning "raven". [6] [7]
With the merge of the formerly separate genera Calocitta (the two magpie-jays) and Psilorhinus (brown jay) into Cyanocorax, the genus now contains around 20 species: [2] [8] [9]
The expanded genus Cyanocorax can be neatly divided into two clades, the first containing the former Calocitta and Psilorhinus, as well as the South American lineage which was historically treated as genus Uroleucus. The other clade unites the remaining South American species with the group formerly separated as Cissilopha, as well as the Inca jay group which are the only members of the genus to have conspicuous carotenoid (yellow/green) pigments in their plumage; [2] some ornithologists treat the two taxa of the Inca jay group as conspecific, [10] [11] though there is deep genetic divergence between the two taxa as well as differences in their plumage, habitat, behaviour, and calls. [2]
The origin of the genus seems to be the Isthmus of Panama region or the northern Andes. An initial split resulted on one hand in a triple radiation along the Caribbean (Psilorhinus) and Pacific (Calocitta) coasts of Central America, as well as into South America (Uroleuca). Concurrently, the ancestors of the White-tailed jay became separated west of the northern Andes, on the Pacific coast of northwestern South America, while the Xanthoura radiation expanded along the foothills of the main Andes chain and adjacent mountain ranges, as well as into the Central American lowlands. From the same stock as the preceding two, a second multi-pronged radiation expanded into Central America (the former Cissilopha species) as well as into South America (in two branches, a northern and a southeastwards one). The Tufted jay, the northwesternmost member of this genus, seems to be a distinct fourth and ancient branch of this radiation, perhaps a remnant of an early expansion that largely went extinct as the Cissilopha lineage displaced it. [2]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
C.formosus group (Calocitta): Pacific Central America | |||
Cyanocorax colliei | Black-throated magpie-jay | west Mexico | |
Cyanocorax formosus | White-throated magpie-jay | southwest Mexico to Costa Rica | |
C.morio lineage (Psilorhinus): Caribbean Central America | |||
Cyanocorax morio | Brown jay | widespread in eastern Mexico and Central America, also in south Texas | |
C.cyanomelas group (Uroleuca): South America | |||
Cyanocorax caeruleus (tentatively placed in this group [2] ) | Azure jay | southeastern Brazil (São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul), far eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina | |
Cyanocorax violaceus (paraphyletic? [2] ) | Violaceous jay | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela | |
Cyanocorax cyanomelas | Purplish jay | northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and southeastern Peru | |
Cyanocorax cristatellus | Curl-crested jay | northeastern Brazil | |
C.yncas group (Xanthoura): lowland Central and upland South America | |||
Cyanocorax luxuosus | Green jay | southern Texas to Honduras | |
Cyanocorax yncas | Inca jay | Andes Mts from Colombia and Venezuela through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia | |
C.mystacalis lineage: northwest (Pacific) South America | |||
Cyanocorax mystacalis | White-tailed jay | Ecuador and Peru | |
C.beecheii group (Cissilopha): Central America | |||
Cyanocorax melanocyaneus | Bushy-crested jay | Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua | |
Cyanocorax yucatanicus | Yucatan jay | Yucatán Peninsula | |
Cyanocorax beecheii | Purplish-backed jay | northwestern Mexico | |
Cyanocorax sanblasianus | San Blas jay | Mexico | |
C.dickeyi lineage: Pacific Mexico | |||
Cyanocorax dickeyi | Tufted jay | Sierra Madre Occidental of Sinaloa and Durango in Mexico | |
C.affinis group: northern (Caribbean) South America | |||
Cyanocorax affinis | Black-chested jay | Colombia, northwestern Venezuela, Panama and far eastern Costa Rica | |
Cyanocorax heilprini (includes Campina jay C. [heilprini] hafferi, treated as a separate species by some authors [12] ) | Azure-naped jay | Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela | |
C.cayanus group: eastern (Atlantic) South America | |||
Cyanocorax cayanus | Cayenne jay | Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela | |
Cyanocorax chrysops | Plush-crested jay | southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina | |
Cyanocorax cyanopogon | White-naped jay | Brazil | |
The fossil corvid Protocitta dixi, described from Middle Pleistocene (Illinoian, Penultimate Glacial Period, roughly 150.000 years ago) remains found in a former cave near Reddick, Florida, was described as similar to both Calocitta and Psilorhinus lineages. Although no cladistic analysis was conducted, at least qualitatively it was assessed as less closely related to the Holarctic magpies, who are a member of the "monochrome" radiation of crows and ravens, so it is very likely that Protocitta was indeed a prehistoric American blue jay. No Cyanocorax is attested from anywhere near Florida however, and since Protocitta was not compared to the North American radiation of blue jays, [13] it is at least as likely to belong with the latter group.
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".
The brown jay is a large jay native to Central America and southern Texas.
The genus Perisoreus is a very small genus of jays from the Boreal regions of North America and Eurasia from Scandinavia to the Asian seaboard. An isolated species also occurs in north-western Sichuan of China. They belong to the Passerine order of birds in the family Corvidae. Species of Perisoreus jays are most closely related to the genus Cyanopica.
The piapiac is an African bird in the crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. It is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays.
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.
Thraupis is a genus of birds of the tanager family occurring from Mexico to Argentina and Brazil. Some are familiar species with large ranges. In Brazil it's called Pipira-azul(pronn: peepeeră, æzoól) when it has a tone blue color, when it has green tone color is called "Pipira-verde" or "Pipira-Vierde" on mexico.
Batis is a genus of passerine birds in the wattle-eye family. Its species are resident in Africa south of the Sahara. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
The black-throated magpie-jay is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico.
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 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".
Knipolegus is a genus of birds, the black tyrants, in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.
Lepidothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the manakin family Pipridae. Birds in the genus are predominantly found in South America, but one species, the velvety manakin, also ranges into Central America. The females of this genus have green plumage with yellow bellies, as do some of the males. The remaining males have black plumage with white or blue crowns. Some also have yellow bellies or blue rumps.
Tolmomyias is a genus of Neotropical birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is one of the two genera containing the "flatbills"; the other is Rhynchocyclus.
Galbula is the type and largest genus of the jacamar family (Galbulidae) of piciform birds, and its suborder Galbulae. Sometimes, the Piciformes are split in two, with the Galbulae upranked to full order Galbuliformes.
Cotinga is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the cotinga family, Cotingidae. It contains seven species that are found in tropical rainforest in South and Central America from southern Mexico to south-east Brazil. They feed mainly on fruit and forage high in trees.
The Inca jay or querrequerre is a bird species of the New World jays, which is native to the Andes of South America.
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus Coloeus closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens (Corvus). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler. The word Coloeus is Neo-Latin, from the Ancient Greek for jackdaws: koloiós (κολοιός). They come from Asia, Europe, Africa and Siberia.
The Campina jay is a passerine from the genus Cyanocorax, a group of jays which occur in the Neotropics. It was first discovered in August 2002 by Mario Cohn-Haft but stayed unrecognised for two and a half years until the holotype was collected in January 2005. In 2013, this species was formally described in the Handbook of the Birds of the World. The species' epithet commemorates Dr. Jürgen Haffer, an ornithologist from Germany, best known for his Pleistocene refugia hypothesis developed in 1969. The common name campina refers to its specific habitat, a cerrado-like open savanna in the Amazon River basin in Brazil.
Gymnoris is a genus of passerine birds in the sparrow family Passeridae. Three species are found in Africa while the yellow-throated sparrow ranges from Turkey to India.