- Cyanolyca turcosa
Identification
30 - 34cm.
- Black forehead, lores and side of head
- Pale turquoise-blue crown and nape
- Pale, almost turquoise-blue throat, darkening towards lower throat
- Narrow black collar at upper breast
- Cerulean blue rest of plumage
- Probably brown eye
- Black bill and legs
Sexes similar, juveniles are duller.
Similar species
Superficially similar to Beautiful Jay which has the pale crown contrast to the mantle and is overall a much darker bird.
Distribution
Andes of southwest Colombia through Ecuador to northern Peru.
Fairly common in Ecuador and Peru, less so in Colombia.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species which in the past was seen as a subspecies of White-collared Jay
Habitat
Humid cloudforest at 1500m - 3500m. More tolerant to open forest as Black-collared Jay.
Behaviour
Forages in small flocks in the subcanopy and canopy of interior forest.
No information about diet.
No information about breeding.
A sedentary species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Turquoise Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Turquoise_Jay
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
