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Cyanocitta

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Genus of birds

Cyanocitta
C. cristata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Subfamily: Cyanocoracinae
Genus: Cyanocitta
Strickland, 1845
Type species
Corvus cristatus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Distribution of the Cyanocitta jays in North America. Red: Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), black: Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Dotted line: irregular wintering, dashed line: irregular breeding.

Cyanocitta is a genus of birds in the family Corvidae, a family which contains the crows, jays and magpies. The genus includes two crested jays with blue plumage and a distinctive feather crest. Found only in temperate North America, the Rocky Mountains divide the two species. These jays inhabit deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests, feeding mainly on seeds, invertebrates, and small vertebrates, with occasional human food. As omnivores, they breed from spring to early summer, nesting in treetops or bushes with clutches of three to six eggs. They are the only American corvids that use mud in nest-building. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in migratory behavior, socialization, and mating habits.

Description

Crested jays are relatively slender corvids with similar body shapes but differ in size. Steller’s jay is larger than the blue jay. Their strong black beaks have a small hooked tip and minimal bristles. They have slightly rounded, medium-to-long tails and relatively short wings. A feathered crest is more pronounced in Steller's jay. Both species are blue, black, and white with distinct black-banded tails and wings—a unique trait among American corvids. Males are slightly larger, but both sexes have similar coloring.

Flight

Steller’s jay has powerful, steady wing beats, while the blue jay’s long-distance flight includes flatter beats, alternating with gliding over short distances. Both species prefer hopping over walking on the ground and are agile in trees.

Vocalization

Crested jays have diverse vocal repertoires, from croaks and energetic calls to melodic sounds. Both species are skilled imitators, mimicking buzzard calls, other birds, mammals, and even mechanical noises. The purpose of this mimicry in the wild is still debated.

Systematics

Established by Hugh Edwin Strickland in 1845, it contains the following species and subspecies:

Genus Cyanocitta Strickland, 1845 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Blue jay

Cyanocitta cristata
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Four subspecies
  • C. c. bromia
  • C. c. cristata
  • C. c. cyanotephra
  • C. c. semplei
Eastern Canada, eastern and central United States
Map of range
Size: 25–34 cm, 70–100 g

Habitat: coniferous forest and scrub habitat

Diet: seeds and nuts, such as acorns, soft fruits, arthropods, and small vertebrates.
 LC 


Steller's jay

Cyanocitta stelleri
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

Thirteen subspecies
  • C. s. stelleri (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
  • C. s. carlottae Osgood, 1901
  • C. s. frontalis (Ridgway, 1873)
  • C. s. carbonacea Grinnell, 1900
  • C. s. annectens (Baird, SF, 1874)
  • C. s. macrolopha Baird, SF, 1854
  • C. s. diademata (Bonaparte, 1850)
  • C. s. phillipsi Browning, 1993 \ C. s. azteca Ridgway, 1899
  • C. s. coronata (Swainson, 1827)
  • C. s. purpurea Aldrich, 1944
  • C. s. restricta Phillips, AR, 1966
  • C. s. suavis Miller, W & Griscom, 1925
west of the Rocky Mountains
Map of range
Size: 30–34 cm, 100–142 g

Habitat: coniferous forests

Diet: seeds, nuts, berries and other fruit, invertebrates, small rodents, eggs
 LC 



The name Cyanocitta is a combination of the Greek words kuanos, meaning "dark blue", and kitta, meaning "jay".

Distribution

Crested jays inhabit temperate North America, divided by the North American Cordillera. This distribution likely resulted from glaciation during the last ice age. The blue jay occupies the flat eastern regions up to the Rocky Mountains, while the Steller's jay is found in the western mountains and adjacent temperate areas. Both species overlap only in southwestern Canada, reaching the warm temperate zone's northern edge in Canada and Alaska. They are absent in arid deserts, valleys, and coastal regions, with distribution becoming more fragmented to the south. Only the Steller's jay extends into tropical regions, inhabiting cooler mountains as far south as Nicaragua. During the Pleistocene, it likely persisted in ice-free southern and western areas, spreading into the Rockies post-glaciation.

The two species differ in migratory habits: the Steller's jay is primarily resident, moving only from high altitudes in winter, while the blue jay migrates seasonally, especially from northern regions. In southern areas, like Florida, blue jays are resident. Steller's jays may migrate more widely after breeding seasons if food is scarce, with many juveniles moving to peripheral areas.

Habitat

Crested jays prefer open forests, forest edges, parklands, and urban green spaces, showing a strong preference for oak trees when available. Both species thrive in coniferous and mixed forests, with blue jays also frequenting pure deciduous forests. Blue jays adapt well to urban areas, often reaching higher densities than in forests, while Steller's jays are less common in human-populated areas, preferring altitudes between 1,000 and 3,500 meters. Blue jays, in contrast, range widely, from coastal beaches to the Appalachian Mountains.

References

  1. ^ Walker, Lauren E.; Pyle, Peter; Patten, Michael A.; Greene, Erick; Davison, William; Muehter, Vincent R. (2016-07-01). "Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)". The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bna.343.
  2. ^ Smith, Kimberly G.; Tarvin, Keith A.; Woolfenden, Glen E. (2013-12-04). "Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)". The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bna.469.
  3. "ITIS Report: Cyanocitta". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  4. Smith, Kimberley G.; Tarvin, Kevin A.; Woolfenden, Glen E. (2013-12-04). Poole, A. F. (ed.). "Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)". The Birds of North America Online. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bna.469. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. BURG, THERESA M.; GASTON, ANTHONY J.; WINKER, KEVIN; FRIESEN, VICKI L. (2005-09-07). "Rapid divergence and postglacial colonization in western North American Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri)". Molecular Ecology. 14 (12). Wiley: 3745–3755. Bibcode:2005MolEc..14.3745B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2005.02710.x. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 16202093.
  7. Goodwin, Derek; Gillmor, Robert (1986). Crows of the world. London: Natural History Museum Publications. ISBN 0-565-00979-6.
  8. Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew (1992). Handbook of the Birds of the World: Bush-shrikes to Old World sparrows (in German). Barcelona: Lynx ed. ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7.

External links

Extant species of family Corvidae
Family Corvidae
Choughs
Pyrrhocorax
Treepies
Crypsirina
Dendrocitta
Platysmurus
Temnurus
Oriental
magpies
Cissa
Urocissa
Old World jays
Garrulus
Podoces
(Ground jays)
Ptilostomus
Stresemann's
bushcrow
Zavattariornis
Family Corvidae (continued)
Nutcrackers
Nucifraga
Holarctic
magpies
Pica
True crows
Corvus
Australian and Melanesian species
Little crow (C. bennetti)
Australian raven (C. coronoides)
Bismarck crow (C. insularis)
Brown-headed crow (C. fuscicapillus)
Bougainville crow (C. meeki)
Little raven (C. mellori)
New Caledonian crow (C. moneduloides)
Torresian crow (C. orru)
Forest raven (C. tasmanicus)
Grey crow (C. tristis)
Long-billed crow (C. validus)
White-billed crow (C. woodfordi)
Pacific island species
Hawaiian crow (C. hawaiiensis)
Mariana crow (C. kubaryi)
Tropical Asian species
Slender-billed crow (C. enca)
Small crow (C. samarensis)
Palawan crow (C. pusillus)
Flores crow (C. florensis)
Large-billed crow (C. macrorhynchos)
Eastern jungle crow (C. levaillantii)
Indian jungle crow (C. culminatus)
House crow (C. splendens)
Collared crow (C. torquatus)
Piping crow (C. typicus)
Banggai crow (C. unicolor)
Violet crow (C. violaceus)
Eurasian and North African species
Mesopotamian crow (C. capellanus)
Hooded crow (C. cornix)
Carrion crow (C. corone)
Rook (C. frugilegus)
Eastern carrion crow (C. orientalis)
Fan-tailed raven (C. rhipidurus)
Brown-necked raven (C. ruficollis)
Holarctic species
Common raven (C. corax)
North and Central American species
American crow (C. brachyrhynchos)
Chihuahuan raven (C. cryptoleucus)
Tamaulipas crow (C. imparatus)
Jamaican crow (C. jamaicensis)
White-necked crow (C. leucognaphalus)
Cuban palm crow (C. minutus)
Cuban crow (C. nasicus)
Fish crow (C. ossifragus)
Hispaniolan palm crow (C. palmarum)
Sinaloan crow (C. sinaloae)
Tropical African species
White-necked raven (C. albicollis)
Pied crow (C. albus)
Cape crow (C. capensis)
Thick-billed raven (C. crassirostris)
Somali crow (C. edithae)
Jackdaws
Coloeus
Family Corvidae (continued)
Azure-winged
magpies
Cyanopica
Grey jays
Perisoreus
New World jays
Aphelocoma
(Scrub jays)
Calocitta
(Magpie-Jays)
Cyanocitta
Cyanocorax
Cyanolyca
Gymnorhinus
Genera of corvides and their extinct allies
Corvides
Campephagidae
Cinclosomatidae
Eulacestomatidae
Falcunculidae
Mohouidae
Neosittidae
Oreoicidae
Oriolidae
Pachycephalidae
Paramythiidae
Psophodidae
Malaconotoidea
    • See below ↓
Corvoidea
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Turnagra Campochaera sloetii
Malaconotoidea
Aegithinidae
Artamidae
Artaminae
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Machaerirhynchidae
Malaconotidae
Pityriasidae
Platysteiridae
Rhagologidae
Vangidae
Malaconotus monteiri Machaerirhynchus nigripectus
Corvoidea
Corcoracidae
Corvidae
Dicruridae
Ifritidae
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Melampittidae
Monarchidae
Monarchinae
Terpsiphoninae
Paradisaeidae
Platylophidae
Rhipiduridae
Lamproliinae
Rhipidurinae
Vireonidae
Paradisaea minor

Seleucidis melanoleuca Nucifraga caryocatactes

Corvus corax
Taxon identifiers
Cyanocitta


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