Eurasian Jay

Photo by Steve Round
Wirral, Cheshire

Garrulus glandarius

Identification

Plumage mainly pinkish-brown. Whitish throat and vent. Black moustachial stripe. Blue, black and white panels on wings.

North African birds show a greyer mantle and contrasting rufous nape, cervicalis from northern parts of Algeria and Tunisia has black crown, whitish sides to head and grey tail-base. Moroccan Atlas race minor and north Morocco-west Algerian whitakeri has broad crown streaks and sides of head more rufous.

Subspecies atricapillus (Showing the black cap which stops a little short of the beak by a white area. In addition there are light coloured feathers around the eyes towards the nape.)
Photo by scottishdude
Lesvos, April 2010

Crimean race iphigenia, Turkish and Caucasian krynicki, atricapillus from the Middle East and rhodius from Rhodes have black crowns and whitish faces (more rufous in krynicki). Race severzowii from Scandinavia to the Urals intergrades between nominate and more eastern forms with rufous head and nape and contrasting grey mantle.

Distribution

	Occurs in most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Siberia, China, Japan, the Himalayas and Indochina. Mainly resident but occasionally irruptive in far north of range and can result in birds of northern subspecies occuring in winter.
	Legend • nominate group • cervicalis group • atricapillus group • hyrcanus group • brandtii group • japonicus group • bispecularis group • leucotis group Maps/Texts consulted3

Photo by angletarn
Brandon Marsh, Warwickshire, November 2009

Taxonomy

More than 30 subspecies of this bird have been described with about 20 from the Western Palearctic. These fall into several groups with the nominate group found over most of Europe.

Subspecies^[1]

• Nominate group:
  • G. g. rufitergum: Southern Scotland, England, Wales and northern France
  • G. g. hibernicus: Ireland
  • G. g. glandarius: Northern and central Europe
  • G. g. severtzowi: Scandinavia and western Russia (sometimes merged into glandarius)
  • G. g. lusitanicus: Northern Portugal and northern Spain (sometimes merged into fasciatus)
  • G. g. fasciatus: Southern, central and eastern Spain
  • G. g. corsicanus: Corsica
  • G. g. albipectus: Italy, Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, Albania and Ionian Islands
  • G. g. jordansi: Sicily (sometimes merged in albipectus)
  • G. g. ichnusae: Sardinia
  • G. g. graecus: Southern Yugoslavia, southern Bulgaria and Greece
  • G. g. cretorum: Crete
  • G. g. glaszneri: Cyprus
  • G. g. fernandi: South-eastern Bulgaria to northern Turkey (Istranca Mountains)
• cervicalis group - Black-crowned Jay:
  • G. g. minor: Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria
  • G. g. cervicalis: North-eastern Algeria and Tunisia
  • G. g. whitakeri: Northern Morocco and north-western Algeria
• atricapillus group - Black-capped Jay
  • G. g. atricapillus: Lebanon to southern Syria, Israel and western Jordan
  • G. g. anatoliae: Western Turkey and eastern Aegean Sea to western Asia Minor, northern Iraq and south-western Iran
  • G. g. samios: Samos and Ikaria region of eastern Aegean Sea (Greece)
  • G. g. iphigenia: Crimean Peninsula
  • G. g. krynicki: Caucasus, Transcaucasia and northern Asia Minor
• hyrcanus group - Iranian Jay
  • G. g. hyrcanus: Northern Iran (Elzburg Mountains and south shore of Caspian Sea)
• brandtii group - Brandt's Jay
  • G. g. brandtii: Ural Mountains to Siberia, Lake Baikal and Altai and Sayan mountains
  • G. g. bambergi: Mongolia to Sakhalin, southern Kuril Islands, Hokkaido and Korea (sometimes merged with brandtii)
  • G. g. kansuensis: Kazakhstan (eastern Tien Shan) and western China (Gansu)
  • G. g. pekingensis: Northern China (Liaoning) and south-western Manchuria
• japonicus group - Japanese Jay
  • G. g. japonicus: Japan (Hondo, Shikoku and Kyushu)
  • G. g. tokugawae: Sado Island (Japan)
  • G. g. hiugaensis: Japan (Isu Peninsula of eastern Hondo, southern Kyushu and Kagoshima)
  • G. g. orii: Yakushima Island (Ryukyu Islands)
  • G. g. namiyei: Tsushima Islands (south-western Japan) (not always accepted)
• bispecularis group - Himalayan Jay or Red-crowned Jay
  • G. g.s sinensis: Western China to northern Yunnan and north-eastern Myanmar
  • G. g. taivanus: Taiwan
  • G. g. persaturatus: Northern India (Khasi Hills of Assam) (sometimes merged with bispecularis)
  • G. g. bispecularis: Himalayas (Kashmir to Nepal)
  • G. g. interstinctus: Eastern Himalayas and south-eastern Tibet
  • G. g. oatesi: Central Myanmar (upper Chindwin and Chin Hills)
• leucotis group - White-faced Jay
  • G. g. leucotis: Eastern Myanmar to southern Yunnan, Thailand to central Vietnam
  • G. g. haringtoni: Myanmar (Mount Victoria in south Chin Hills)

DNA reserach has shown only minor differences of small significance.

Habitat

Mainly deciduous woodland and forest, and oak in particular. Also in mixed forest, orchards, town parks and large gardens, and coniferous forest in the north and east of the Region.

Behaviour

Usually a very shy and wary bird, keeping in dense foliage. However, in city parks birds can become very confiding. Normally solitary or in family groups.

Diet

An omnivorous feeder. The diet includes invertebrates (notably caterpillars and beetles) but also eggs and nestlings and a wide variety of seeds and berries. Does visit garden birdtables where unmolested.

Breeding

Breeding starts in April in most of Europe. A pair stays together several years, possibly even lifelong. The nest is built by both sexes. It's a platfrom of twigs, placed some 4 to 6m above the ground, usually well concealed by foliage and near the tree centre. Lays 3 - 10 eggs (chiefly 5 - 7) which are incubated 16 - 17 days by the female. The nestling period is 19 - 23 days.

Vocalisation

The alarm call is a harsh, rasping screech. It is a great mimic. <flashmp3>Garrulus glandarius (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. 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.
2. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Eurasian Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eurasian_Jay

External Links

Search for photos of Eurasian Jay in the gallery

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