Azure-hooded Jay

Subspecies mitrata
Photo by Padilla Raul Padilla
Tlanchinol, Hidalgo, Mexico, May 2017

Alternative name: Hooded Jay

Cyanolyca cucullata

Identification

Nominate race
Photo by Birdingcraft
Santa Elena Reserve (Monteverde), Costa Rica, February 1996

26 - 31cm (10¼-12¼ in).

• Dark cyan-blue plumage
• Black forehead and sides of head, black throat, more extensive in some subspecies
• Pale blue crown, bordered narrow white in mitrata, more extensive in hondurensis
• Dark red eyes
• Black bill and legs

Sexes similar. Juveniles are duller than adults and have light sepia underparts.

Distribution

Central America: found in the highlands from central Mexico south to Guatemala and Honduras with an isolated population (subspecies cucullata) in Costa Rica and Panama.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• C. c. mitrata:

• Eastern Mexico (San Luis Potosí to north-central Oaxaca)

• C. c. guatemalae:

• Southern Mexico (Chiapas) to central Guatemala

• C. c. hondurensis:

• Western Honduras

• C. c. cucullata:

• Costa Rica and western Panama

A sister-species of Beautiful Jay.

Habitat

Cloud forests at approximately 1000-2000 meters in elevation; remarkably, the favorite elevation for this bird seems similar in Mexico and Panama.

Behaviour

Moves around in small flocks, and may join mixed species flocks. Often found high and the pale crown is therefore difficult to see.

Diet

Their diet includes invertebrates, berries and small fruits.

Breeding

Breeding season April to June in Costa Rica. A solitary nester. The nest is a platform made of twigs. It's placed 5 - 7m above the ground in a small tree at the forest edge. Lays 2 eggs.

Movements

A sedentary species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Costaricalink
3. Howell & Webb, 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198540124
4. Ridgely & Gwynne 1989. Birds of Panama. Princeton Paperbacks. ISBN 0691025126
5. 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
6. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Azure-hooded Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Azure-hooded_Jay

External Links

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