- Cyanocorax affinis
Identification
33 - 36cm.
- Stiffed forehead feathers create a short, laterally compressed frontal crest
- Mostly black head with large elongated blue spot above eye, smaller spot below eye
- Blue malar stripe
- Bright cyan-blue nape, often partly concealed
- Dull violet upperparts suffused with brown
- Bright cyan tail, rectrices with whitish-cream tips
- Sepia throat and upper breast
- Whitish rest of underparts
- Yellow to yellowish-white eye
- Black bill and legs
Females tend to be more brownish than males. Juveniles are duller and browner.
Similar species
Superficially similar to Plush-crested Jay but ranges don't overlap.
Distribution
Found from extreme southeast Costa Rica south to Panama, north and northeast Colombia and northwest Venezuela.
Uncommon and local but not globally threatened.
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
- C. a. zeledoni:
- Humid forests of south-eastern Costa Rica and Panama
- C. a. affinis:
Habitat
Dry forests, moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest. Occurs from sea-level up to 2600m.
Behaviour
Feeds on fruits, berries, insects and occasional small lizards and frogs.
Usually seen in small groups of 3 - 8 birds. Keeps well hidden in foliage. Often attend trail of army ants to feed on disturbed insects.
Breeding recorded from January to May. Probably a sociable breeder. The nest is bulky and made of sticks and twigs. It's placed in a tree. Lays 3 - 5 eggs.
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. (2024) Black-chested Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-chested_Jay
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1