Alternative names: Plain-tipped Brown Jay; Plain-tailed Brown Jay; White-tipped Brown Jay
- Cyanocorax morio
Psilorhinus morio
Identification
Dark brown upperparts, pale brown underparts, dark brown head, thick black bill, white-tipped tail, black legs and feet.
Geographical variation: Two main groups.
Northern birds are almost completely dark brown, with lighter brown on the underparts.
Southern birds are white-bellied and have bright white tips to the outer tailfeathers.
Distribution
From southernmost Texas and eastern Mexico, through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, to western Panama.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies are recognized: palliatus, morio, cyanogenys, and vociferus.
Has been placed in the genus Psilorhinus in the past. The AOU NACC has decided to again place Brown Jay in Psilorhinus; the Opus awaits a position from the world-wide checklists before changing it here.
Habitat
Thickets and woodland near water.
Behaviour
The diet includes insects, invertebrates, lizards, fruit, and nectar.
Both sexes build the nest; 3-6 eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 18-20 days.
Vocalisation
A loud but low pitched pee-ah call.
The Brown Jay has a furcular pouch of the intraclavicular air sac that is most likely used to produced a sound like a hiccup, a structure not found in any other species of Jay.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Jay
