White-Throated Magpie-Jay
Calocitta formosa
Silhouette: Peileppe · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyCorvidae (Crows, Jays, and Magpies)
- GenusCalocitta
- SpeciesCalocitta formosa (White-Throated Magpie-Jay)
About the White-Throated Magpie-Jay
The white-throated magpie-jay (Cyanocorax formosus) is a large Central American species of magpie-jay. It ranges in Pacific-slope thorn forest from Jalisco, Mexico, to Northern Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers.
The white-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1827 by the English naturalist William Swainson from a specimen that had been collected by the naturalist William Bullock in Temascaltepec, Mexico. Swainson coined the binomial name Pica formosa. The specific epithet is from the Latin formosus meaning "beautiful". The white-throated magpie-jay and the black-throated magpie-jay were formerly placed in their own genus Calocitta. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Cyanocorax was paraphyletic relative to Calocitta, the two species were subsumed into Cyanocorax to resolve the paraphyly.
Three subspecies are recognised: C. f. formosus (Swainson, 1827) – Colima, Michoacán and Puebla south to Oaxaca (southwest Mexico) C. f. azureus (Nelson, 1897) – Oaxaca and Chiapas (southeast Mexico) and west Guatemala C. f. pompatus (Bangs, 1914) – east Chiapas... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of White-Throated Magpie-Jay in Tortuguero National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Tortuguero National Park
Brown Jay
Psilorhinus morio
Montezuma Oropendola
Psarocolius montezuma
Great Kiskadee
Pitangus sulphuratus
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
Tropical Kingbird
Tyrannus melancholicus
Social Flycatcher
Myiozetetes similis
Mangrove Swallow
Tachycineta albilinea
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Lesser Greenlet
Hylophilus decurtatus
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Todirostrum cinereum
Clay-colored Thrush
Turdus grayi
Variable Seedeater
Sporophila corvina
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Ostional Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Masaya Volcano National Park | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 7 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Cañón del Sumidero National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | La Tigra National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 18 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 19 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |