Gray Bird Size of Blue Jay With Black on It Raptor Family

Species of bird

Blue jay Temporal range: Piacenzian - present
In Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York
Conservation condition
Least Business concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific nomenclature
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family unit:	Corvidae
Genus:	Cyanocitta
Species:	C. cristata
Binomial name
Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
4 sspp., see text
Approximate distribution map  Year-round  Nonbreeding
Synonyms
Corvus cristatus Linnaeus, 1758

The blueish jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern N America. It lives in nearly of the eastern and central Usa; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are also in Newfoundland, Canada; convenance populations are institute across southern Canada. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common in residential areas. Its coloration is predominantly bluish, with a white chest and underparts, and a blueish crest; information technology has a black, U-shaped collar around its cervix and a black border behind the crest. Males and females are similar in size and plumage, and plumage does not vary throughout the twelvemonth. Four subspecies have been recognized.

The blueish jay feeds mainly on seeds and nuts, such as acorns, which it may hide to eat later;^[2] soft fruits; arthropods; and occasionally pocket-size vertebrates. It typically gleans food from trees, shrubs, and the ground, and sometimes hawks insects from the air. Blue jays tin be very aggressive to other birds; they sometimes raid nests and have decapitated other birds.^[iii]

It builds an open cup nest in the branches of a tree; both sexes participate. The clutch may exist two to seven eggs, which are blueish or light brown with darker brownish spots. Immature are altricial, and are brooded by the female person for 8–12 days after hatching. They may stay with their parents for one to two months.

The name jay derives from the bird's noisy, garrulous nature and has been practical to other birds of the same family, which are also mostly gregarious.^[4] Jays are also called jaybirds.^[5]

Taxonomy [edit]

The blueish jay was first described as Pica glandaria cærulea cristata in English naturalist Marking Catesby'southward 1731 publication of Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas.^[6] It was later described as Corvus cristatus in Carl Linnaeus' 1758 edition of Systema Naturae.^[seven] In the 19th century, the jay was described past French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1838 as Cyanocorax cristatus in A geographical and comparative listing of the birds of Europe and North America,^[eight] and given its modern scientific proper noun Cyanocitta cristata by Hugh Edwin Strickland in 1845.^[nine] The genus proper name Cyanocitta derives from the Greek words 'kyaneos' (blue) and the 'kitta' and 'kissa' (chattering bird, jay), and the term 'blue chatterer' refers to the brilliant blueish plumage of the head, nape, dorsum, and tail of the bird. The specific name cristata (crested, tufted) derives from Latin referring to the prominent blue crest of the jay.^[x]

Description [edit]

The blue jay measures 22–30 cm (nine–12 in) from bill to tail and weighs 70–100 k (2.5–3.5 oz), with a wingspan of 34–43 cm (thirteen–17 in).^{[xi] [12]} Consequent with Bergmann's dominion, jays from Connecticut averaged 92.four thousand (3.26 oz) in mass, while jays from warmer southern Florida averaged 73.7 g (two.lx oz).^{[xiii] [14]} There is a pronounced crest on the caput, a crown of feathers, which may be raised or lowered according to the bird'due south mood. When excited or ambitious, the crest volition exist fully raised. When frightened, the crest bristles outwards, brushlike. When the bird is feeding among other jays or resting, the crest is flattened on the head.^[15]

Its plumage is lavender-blue to mid-blueish in the crest, dorsum, wings, and tail, and its face is white. The underside is off-white and the neck is collared with black which extends to the sides of the head. The fly primaries and tail are strongly barred with black, sky-blue, and white. The bill, legs, and optics are all black. Males and females are almost identical, but the male is slightly larger.^{[12] [16]} The black plumage on its nape, face, and throat varies extensively between individuals; it is believed to assistance in recognition between individuals.^[12]

As with near other blue-hued birds, the blueish jay'southward coloration is not derived from pigments but is the consequence of light interference due to the internal construction of the feathers;^[17] if a bluish plume is crushed, the blue disappears because the structure is destroyed. The actual pigment in its feathers is melanin.^[11] This is referred to every bit structural coloration.

Distribution and habitat [edit]

The blue jay occurs from southern Canada (including the southern areas of provinces from Alberta eastward to Quebec and throughout the Atlantic provinces) and throughout the eastern and primal United States southward to Florida and northeastern Texas. The western border of the range stops where the arid pine forest and scrub habitat of the closely related Steller's jay (C. stelleri) begins, more often than not in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Recently, the range of the blue jay has extended northwestwards and so that it is now a rare but regularly seen wintertime company along the northern US and southern Canadian Pacific Coast.^[11] As the 2 species' ranges now overlap, C. cristata may sometimes hybridize with Steller's jay.^[18] The increase in trees throughout the Dandy Plains during the past century due to fire suppression and afforestation facilitated the western range expansion of the blue jay^{[nineteen] [20]} as well equally range expansions of many other species of birds.^{[21] [22] [23]} From 1966 to 2015, the Blue Jay experienced a population decline along the Atlantic declension, but a greater than ane.5% almanac population increment throughout the northern part of its range, including Labrador, Nova Scotia, southern Quebec, and southern Manitoba.^[24]

The northernmost subspecies C. c. bromia is migratory, subject to necessity. Information technology may withdraw several hundred kilometers s in the northernmost parts of its range. Thousands of blueish jays have been observed to migrate in flocks along the Groovy Lakes and Atlantic coasts. It migrates during the daytime, in loose flocks of 5 to 250 birds. Much about their migratory behavior remains a mystery. Some are present throughout wintertime in all parts of their range. Young jays may be more likely to migrate than adults, only many adults also migrate. Some individual jays migrate s one year, stay due north the side by side winter, and and then migrate south again the next twelvemonth. To appointment, no one has concretely worked out why they migrate when they do. Likely, it is related to weather conditions and how arable the wintertime food sources are, which can determine whether other northern birds will move south.^[25]

The blue jay occupies a diversity of habitats inside its large range, from the pine woods of Florida to the bandbox-fir forests of northern Ontario. It is less abundant in denser forests, preferring mixed woodlands with oaks and beeches.^[15] It has expertly adjusted to human being activity, occurring in parks and residential areas, and can adapt to wholesale deforestation with relative ease if human activity creates other means for the jays to get by.^[26]

Subspecies [edit]

Four subspecies are mostly accepted, though the variation within this species is rather subtle and essentially clinal. No firm boundaries can exist drawn between the inland subspecies. The ranges of the coastal races are amend delimited.^[16]

Image	Subspecies	Common Name	Clarification	Distribution
	Cyanocitta cristata bromia	Northern bluish jay	The largest subspecies, with adequately tedious plumage. Blue is rather pale.	Canada and northern United states of america.
	Cyanocitta cristata cristata	Coastal bluish jay	Mid-sized and bright blue.	Coastal United states of america from North Carolina to Texas, except southern Florida
	Cyanocitta cristata cyanotephra	Interior blueish jay	Mid-sized, quite dark blue on mantle contrasting cleanly with very white underside.	Inland Usa, intergrading with C. c. bromia to the north.
	Cyanocitta cristata semplei	Florida blue jay	The smallest subspecies, much like C. c. bromia in colour.	Southern Florida.

• 

  C. c. bromia, Northern blue jay, juvenile, in Ontario, Canada

• 

  C. c. bromia, Northern blue jay in Ontario, Canada

• 

  Blue Jay, Melbourne Florida

Beliefs [edit]

The blue jay is a noisy, bold, and aggressive passerine. It is a moderately wearisome flier (roughly 32–xl km/h (20–25 mph)) when unprovoked.^[27] It flies with body and tail held level, with ho-hum fly beats. Its slow flying speeds make this species like shooting fish in a barrel prey for hawks and owls when it flies in open up areas. Virtually all the raptorial birds sympatric in distribution with the blue jay may prey upon information technology, specially swift bird-hunting specialists such equally the Accipiter hawks. Diverse predators may casualty on jay eggs and immature up to their fledgling stage, including tree squirrels, snakes, cats, crows, raccoons, opossums, other jays and possibly many of the same birds of casualty who set on adults.^[28]

The blue jay tin can be benign to other bird species, every bit it may chase predatory birds, such as hawks and owls, and volition scream if it sees a predator within its territory. Information technology has also been known to sound an alarm telephone call when hawks or other dangers are well-nigh, and smaller birds often recognize this phone call and hide themselves away accordingly. It may occasionally impersonate the calls of raptors, specially those of the cherry-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, mayhap to exam if a hawk is in the vicinity, though likewise peradventure to scare off other birds that may compete for nutrient sources.^[25] Information technology may likewise be aggressive towards humans who come shut to its nest, and if an owl roosts about the nest during the daytime the blueish jay mobs it until information technology takes a new roost.^[29] Nonetheless, blue jays have too been known to attack or impale other smaller birds, and leafage-roosting bat species such equally Eastern red bats.^[30] Jays are very territorial birds, and they will chase others from a feeder for an easier meal. Additionally, the blue jay may raid other birds' nests, stealing eggs, chicks, and nests. However, this may not exist as common as is typically idea, as but one% of nutrient matter in one study was bird cloth.^[25] Despite this, other passerines may still mob jays who come within their convenance territories.

When a blue jay is agitated or aroused, the blue crest atop its head volition ascent. It will lower when the bird is relaxed or at-home.^[31]

Blueish jays, like other corvids, are highly curious and are considered intelligent birds. Immature individuals playfully snatch brightly coloured or reflective objects, such as canteen caps or pieces of aluminum foil, and comport them around until they lose interest.^[29] While non confirmed to accept engaged in tool utilise in the wild, blueish jays in captivity have been observed using strips of newspaper equally tools to obtain food,^{[25] [32]} while captive fledglings have been observed attempting to open the doors of their cages.^[33]

Diet [edit]

Blue jays are omnivorous, but the Audubon Society estimates that 75% of their diet is vegetable matter.^[34] They have stiff black bills which they utilise for corking nuts, unremarkably while holding them with their anxiety, and for eating corn, grains and seeds. Blue jays particularly dear to eat peanuts in the crush. ^[35] Its nutrient is sought both on the ground and in copse and includes almost all known types of plant and animal sources, such as acorns and beech mast, weed seeds, grain, fruits and other berries, peanuts, breadstuff, meat, pocket-sized invertebrates of many types, scraps in town parks, bird-table food and rarely eggs and nestlings.^[25] Bluish jays will sometimes cache food, though to what extent differs widely among individuals.^[36] Although seemingly contentious in their general beliefs, blue jays are frequently subservient to other medium-sized birds who visit bird-feeders. In Florida, blueish jays were dominated at feeders by eastern gray squirrels, Florida scrub-jays, common grackles and carmine-headed woodpeckers, all of which were occasionally observed to aggressively preclude the jays from feeding.^[25]

Reproduction [edit]

Nest in the top of a little pine

The mating season begins in mid-March, peaks in mid-April to May, and extends into July. Any suitable tree or large bush-league may be used for nesting, though an evergreen is preferred. The nest is preferentially congenital at a height in the trees of 3 to ten m (10 to 33 ft). It is cup-shaped and composed of twigs, small roots, bark strips, moss, other plant material, textile, paper, and feathers, with occasional mud added to the cup.

Juvenile vocalizing in July

Blue jays are non very picky most nesting locations. If no better place is available – east.grand. in a heavily deforested area – they will even use places like the large mailboxes typical of the rural The states.^[26] They also appropriate nests of other mid-sized songbirds every bit long as these are placed in suitable spots; American robin nests are usually used by blue jays, for example.

Blue jays typically form monogamous pair bonds for life. Both sexes build the nest and rear the young, though simply the female broods them. The male feeds the female person while she is brooding the eggs. In that location are usually between 3 and 6 (averaging four or five) eggs laid and incubated over xvi–18 days. The young fledge usually between 17 and 21 days later hatching.^[29]

After the juveniles fledge, the family travels and forages together until early fall, when the immature birds disperse to avert competition for nutrient during the winter. Sexual maturity is reached afterward ane twelvemonth of historic period. The oldest known wild, banded Blueish Jay was at to the lowest degree 26 years, 11 months old when it was found dead after beingness caught in fishing gear. Information technology had been banded in the Newfoundland/Labrador/St. Pierre et Miquelon area in 1989 and was establish there in 2016.^[37] Another wild jay was found to have been around 17 and a half years old.^[38] A more than common lifespan for wild birds that survive to adulthood is around 7 years.^[39] Beyond predation and the occasional standoff with man-made objects, a common cause of mortality in contempo decades has been the West Nile virus, to which corvids as a whole seem particularly susceptible. However, despite several major local declines, overall blueish jays have not seemed to have been depleted by the disease.^[28]

Vocalizations [edit]

Blue jays can brand a large diversity of sounds, and individuals may vary perceptibly in their calling style. Like other corvids, they may larn to mimic homo speech communication. Blue jays can also re-create the cries of local hawks so well that it is sometimes difficult to tell which information technology is.^[40] Their voice is typical of most jays in being varied, just the most usually recognized sound is the alert call, which is a loud, almost gull-like scream. There is also a loftier-pitched jayer-jayer call that increases in speed equally the bird becomes more than agitated. This particular call tin can be easily confused with the chickadee'southward song because of the slow-starting chick-ah-dee-ee. Blueish jays will use these calls to band together to mob potential predators such as hawks and drive them away from the jays' nests.

Blue jays besides have quiet, almost subliminal calls which they employ amongst themselves in proximity. Ane of the most distinctive calls of this type is oft referred to equally the "rusty pump" owing to its squeaky resemblance to the sound of an old manus-operated water pump. The blue jay (and other corvids) are distinct from most other songbirds for using their telephone call as a song.

In man culture [edit]

In old African American folklore of the southern United States, the blue jay was a significant metaphysical beast. In some tales, the bluish jay was credited with making the world "when all de worl' was water" by bringing the outset "grit" or "dirt". In other tales the blue jay was temporarily conscripted as a servant of the Devil to bring "kindling" to the "bad place": and "was non encountered on a Friday as he was fetching sticks down to Hell; furthermore, he was then happy and chirpy on a Sat as he was relieved to return from Hell".^[41]

The blue jay was adopted as the team symbol of the Toronto Blueish Jays Major League Baseball team, as well equally some of their small-scale league affiliates. Their mascot, Ace, is an anthropomorphic blue jay. The blueish jay is as well the official mascot for Johns Hopkins University, Elmhurst Academy, and Creighton University. The latter two spell the name as one discussion - Bluejay. Information technology is likewise the provincial bird of the province of Prince Edward Island in Canada.

References [edit]

1. ^ BirdLife International. (2016). Cyanocitta cristata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. doi:10.2305/IUCN.Uk.2016-three.RLTS.T22705611A94027257.en
2. ^ "The blue jays are coming! Hide yo kids, hibernate yo nuts!". Seriously, Scientific discipline?.
3. ^ Little Known Fact: Bluish Jays are Vicious Carnivores. pedaldrivenprogramming.com (15 Apr 2008)
4. ^ Coues, Elliot (1890). Fundamental to Northward American birds (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Estes and Lauriat. p. 326. OCLC 469020022.
5. ^ "jaybird – definition of jaybird past the Free Online Lexicon, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Retrieved April 20, 2011.
6. ^ Catesby, Mark (1731). Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas (1st ed.). London: Regal Gild House. p. 87.
7. ^ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata (in Latin). Vol. 1. Holmiae: Laurentius Salvius. p. 106.
8. ^ Bonaparte, Charles L. (1838). A geographical and comparative listing of the birds of Europe and North America. London: J. Van Voorst. p. 27.
9. ^ Bulletin of the National History Survey, Issues 4-6. Chicago: Chicago University of Sciences. 1900. p. 120.
10. ^ Sandrock, James (2014). The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest. University of Iowa Printing. p. 48. ISBN978-1609382254.
11. ^ ^{a b c} Blue Jay, Life History, All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology
12. ^ ^{a b c} "ADW: Cyanocitta cristata: Data". Brute Multifariousness Web.
13. ^ Jewell, Due south. D. (1986). "Weights and fly lengths in Connecticut Blueish Jays". Connecticut Warbler. six (4): 47–49.
14. ^ Fisk, E.J. (1979). "Fall and winter birds near Homestead, Florida". Bird-Banding. 50 (3): 224–303. doi:10.2307/4512458. JSTOR 4512458.
15. ^ ^{a b} "Bluish Jay". Canadian Wild fauna Service. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09 .
16. ^ ^{a b} Madge, Steve; Fire, Hilary (1994). Crows and jays: a guide to the crows, jays and magpies of the world. London: A&C Black. ISBN978-0-7136-3999-v.
17. ^ Carpenter, Anita (February 2003). "What Colour is a Bluejay?". Wisconsin Natural Resources Mag. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2012-10-21 .
18. ^ Rhymer, Judith 1000.; Simberloff, Daniel (1996). "Extinction by hybridization and introgression". Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 27: 83–109. doi:ten.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.i.83.
19. ^ Smith GH (1978). "Range Extension of the Blue Jay into Western North America" (PDF). Bird-Banding. 49 (iii): 208–214. doi:10.2307/4512360. JSTOR 4512360.
20. ^ Tarvin KA, Woolfenden GE. (1999). "Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)", no. 469. In: A. Poole (ed.). The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.
21. ^ Livezey, KB (2009). "Range expansion of Barred Owls, part I: chronology and distribution". American Midland Naturalist. 161: 49–56. doi:10.1674/0003-0031-161.1.49. S2CID 86276981.
22. ^ Livezey, KB (2009b). "Range expansion of Barred Owls, part 2: facilitating ecological changes". American Midland Naturalist. 161 (2): 323–349. doi:10.1674/0003-0031-161.ii.323. S2CID 84426970.
23. ^ Livezey KB (2010). "Killing Barred Owls to Help Spotted Owls II: Implications for Many Other Range-Expanding Species". Northwestern Naturalist. 91 (three): 251–270. doi:10.1898/NWN09-38.1. JSTOR 40983223. S2CID 85425945.
24. ^ "Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata BBS Trend Map, 1966 - 2015". USGS. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-12-09 .
25. ^ ^{a b c d east f} Bluish Jay. birds.cornell.edu
26. ^ ^{a b} Henninger, Due west. F. (1906). "A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio" (PDF). Wilson Bulletin. 18 (ii): 47–60.
27. ^ Animal Speeds. Texas Parks & Wildlife. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
28. ^ ^{a b} "ADW: Cyanocitta cristata: Data". Animal Diversity Web.
29. ^ ^{a b c} "Blueish Jay". Archived from the original on 2007-05-02.
30. ^ Dirt, William K. (1959). "Blue Jays Assault a Ruddy Bat" (PDF). The Auk. 76 (4): 532. doi:10.2307/4082327. JSTOR 4082327.
31. ^ "The Truth Well-nigh Blueish Jays – The Free Weekly". Retrieved 2019-09-08 .
32. ^ Jones, Thony B.; Kamil, Alan C. (1973). "Tool-Making and Tool-Using in the Northern Blueish Jay". Science. 180 (4090): 1076–1078. Bibcode:1973Sci...180.1076J. doi:10.1126/science.180.4090.1076. PMID 17806587. S2CID 22011846.
33. ^ American Rivers Archived 2013-12-18 at the Wayback Machine. tumblr.com
34. ^ "Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata". Audubon.org. 13 November 2014.
35. ^ "Blue jays honey peanuts in the shell".
36. ^ AllAboutBirds.org – Blue Jay The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
37. ^ "Bluish Jay Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".
38. ^ "Longevity Records Of North American Birds". U. Due south. Geological Survey: Bird Banding Laboratory. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
39. ^ "Fauna facts: Blue Jay". Canadian Geographic. The Majestic Canadian Geographical Society. July 26, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
40. ^ George, Philip Brandt. (2003). In: Baughman, Mel K. (ed.) Reference Atlas to the Birds of North America. National Geographic Club, Washington, D.C., p. 279, ISBN 978-0-7922-3373-two
41. ^ Ingersoll, Ernest (1923). Birds in legend, legend and folklore. New York: Longmans, Greenish and Co. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 2009-08-08 .

External links [edit]

• Information related to Cyanocitta cristata at Wikispecies
• Blueish Jay ID, including sound and video, at Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter archived May 2010
• "Blue Jay media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Blue Jay at borealforest.org archived May 2021
• Blue Jay Bird Audio at Florida Museum of Natural History archived January 2011
• Photo essay of blue jay nestlings archived April 2014
• Blue Jay photograph gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)

veitchcommoodle1982.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay

Share this post