Brown Jay

About the Brown Jay

The brown jay (Cyanocorax morio) is a large jay native to Central America and southern Texas. The brown jay was formerly placed in its own genus Psilorhinus. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Cyanocorax was paraphyletic relative to Psilorhinus, Psilorhinus was subsumed into Cyanocorax to resolve the paraphyly.

Three subspecies are recognised: C. m. palliatus (Van Rossem, 1934) – extreme south Texas (south USA) and northeast, east Mexico C. m. morio (Wagler, 1829) – southeast Mexico to west Panama C. m. vociferus (Cabot, S, 1843) – north Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico)

Brown jays vary in plumage geographically: there are two main groups. Northern birds are almost completely dark brown, with lighter brown on the underparts. Southern birds are white-bellied and have bright white tips to the outer tail feathers. The intergrade zone is in Veracruz, Mexico. Adults in both populations have black bills, legs, and feet. Immatures have yellow bare parts, including yellow eye-rings.

The voice is a loud but low-pitched pee-ah call and is often modified to suit its situation or mood. The northernmost extent... Wikipedia →