Alternative name: Beechey's Jay
- Cyanocorax beecheii
Identification
35 - 40cm.
- Inconspicous stiffened, plush-like feathers on forehead and face
- Black head, neck, upper mantle and underparts, throat tending to sepia
- Bright ultramarine upperparts and upperwings
- Blackish underwing and underside of tail
- Yellow eye
- Black bill
- Yellow legs
Sexes similar. Juveniles have a dark grey head and body, a distinctly darker hood and a blackish breast and a dark brown eye.
Similar species
Similar to Yucatan Jay but different eye colour and ranges don't overlap. Also very similar to San Blas Jay but note different leg colour. There is limited range overlap with this latter, notably around San Blas where purplish-backed is the more commonly encountered species
Distribution
Endemic to the pacific coastal lowlands of northwest Mexico.
Locally common but iwht a small range.
Taxonomy
Monotypic.
Formerly placed in genus Cissilopha.
Habitat
Dry decidious forest, especially secondary growth. Found from sea-level up to 600m.
Behaviour
Feeds on invertebrates (like mosquitoes, termites or ants), small rodents, small lizards, fruit and berries and grain.
Usually seen in small groups of 2 - 6 birds.
Breeding season from May to June. Social breeder with helpers. All members of the group help building the nestwhich is an untidy platform of twigs. It's placed 4 - 8m above the ground in a tree. Lays 3 - 6 eggs.
A sedentary species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. 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) Purplish-backed Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purplish-backed_Jay
