Jay

For other uses, see Jay (disambiguation).

"Jay (bird)" redirects here. For other uses, see jay bird (disambiguation).

Jay
Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Corvoidea
Family:	Corvidae
Genera
Garrulus Podoces Ptilostomus Perisoreus Aphelocoma Gymnorhinus Cyanocitta Cyanocorax Cyanolyca

Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually have colorful feathers and are quite noisy. These superificial characteristics set them apart from most other corvids such as crows, ravens, jackdaws, rooks and magpies, which are larger and have darker plumage. Many so-called "jays" are genetically closer to these other corvids than other jays, however.

Systematics and species

Jays are not a monophyletic group. Anatomical and molecular evidence indicates they can be divided into a New World and an Old World lineage (the latter including the ground jays and the piapiac), while the grey jays of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. ^[1] The black magpies, formerly believed to be related to jays, are classified as treepies.

Old World ("brown") jays

Image	Genus	Living species
	Garrulus Brisson, 1760	Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius Lanceolated jay, Garrulus lanceolatus Lidth's jay, Garrulus lidthi
	Podoces Fischer von Waldheim, 1821 - Ground jays	Mongolian ground jay, Podoces hendersoni Xinjiang ground jay, Podoces biddulphi Pleske's ground jay, Podoces pleskei Turkestan ground jay, Podoces panderi
	Ptilostomus Swainson, 1837	Piapiac, Ptilostomus afer

Grey jays

Image	Genus	Living species
	Perisoreus Bonaparte, 1831 - Grey jays	Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus Sichuan jay, Perisoreus internigrans Canada jay, gray jay, grey jay, or whiskeyjack Perisoreus canadensis

New World jays

Image	Genus	Living species
	Aphelocoma Cabanis, 1851 - Scrub-jays	Florida scrub jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens Island scrub jay, Aphelocoma insularis California scrub jay, Aphelocoma californica Woodhouse's scrub jay, Aphelocoma woodhouseii Transvolcanic jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina Mexican jay, Aphelocoma wollweberi Unicolored jay, Aphelocoma unicolor
	Gymnorhinus Wied-Neuwied, 1841	Pinyon jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus
	Cyanocitta Strickland, 1845	Steller's jay, Cyanocitta stelleri Blue jay, Cyanocitta cristata
	Cyanocorax F. Boie, 1826	Tufted jay, Cyanocorax dickeyi Black-chested jay, Cyanocorax affinis Green jay, Cyanocorax ynca Brown jay, Cyanocorax morio Bushy-crested jay, Cyanocorax melanocyaneus San Blas jay, Cyanocorax sanblasianus Yucatan jay, Cyanocorax yucatanicus Purplish-backed jay, Cyanocorax beecheii Purplish jay, Cyanocorax cyanomelas Azure jay, Cyanocorax caeruleus Violaceous jay, Cyanocorax violaceus Curl-crested jay, Cyanocorax cristatellus Azure-naped jay, Cyanocorax heilprini Cayenne jay, Cyanocorax cayanus Plush-crested jay, Cyanocorax chrysops White-naped jay, Cyanocorax cyanopogon White-tailed jay, Cyanocorax mystacalis Black-throated magpie-jay, Cyanocorax colliei White-throated magpie-jay, Cyanocorax formosus
	Cyanolyca Cabanis, 1851	Black-collared jay, Cyanolyca armillata Turquoise jay, Cyanolyca turcosa White-collared jay, Cyanolyca viridicyana Azure-hooded jay, Cyanolyca cucullata Beautiful jay, Cyanolyca pulchra Black-throated jay, Cyanolyca pumilo Dwarf jay, Cyanolyca nana Silvery-throated jay, Cyanolyca argentigula White-throated jay, Cyanolyca mirabilis

In culture

Slang

The word jay has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently. ^{[2] [3]}

The term jaywalking was coined in the first decade of the 1900s to label persons crossing a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard. ^[4] The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established. ^[5]

In January 2014, Canadian author Robert Joseph Greene embarked on a lobbying campaign among ornithologists in Europe and North America to get Merriam-Websters Dictionary to have a "Jabber of Jays" as an official term under bird groups. ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. Ericson, Per G. P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S.; Ekman, Jan (May 2005). "Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data". Journal of Avian Biology . 36 (3): 222–234. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.493.5531 . doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x. http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf Archived 2017-08-10 at the Wayback Machine PDF fulltext
2. "Jay". freedictionary.com. An overly talkative person; a chatterbox.
3. "Definition of Jay by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-Webster, Inc. 26 October 2024.
4. "Definition of Jaywalker by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-Webster, Inc. 28 August 2024.
5. "jay-walker" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
6. "Writer lobbies for new word to describe jays". Vancouver Courier. January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
7. "British Ornithologists' Union: What say ye countrymen to a jabber of jays?". Community News. January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2014.

External links

• "Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata videos". The Internet Bird Collection + The Macaulay Library.
• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Jay". Collier's New Encyclopedia . 1921.
  • "Jays". Encyclopedia Americana . 1920.
  • "Jay". The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.
  • Newton, Alfred (1911). "Jay". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).
  • "Jay". New International Encyclopedia . 1905.
  • Newton, Alfred (1881). "Jay". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 13 (9th ed.).