The Inca jay or querrequerre (''Cyanocorax yncas'') is a bird species of the New World jays, which is native to the Andes of South America.

Taxonomy

The Inca jay was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1775 in his '' Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux''. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the ''Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle'' which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Corvus yncas'' in his catalogue of the ''Planches Enluminées''. Buffon's specimen came from Peru; in 1953 the American ornithologist John Todd Zimmer restricted the type location to Chilpes, Department of Junín. The Inca jay is now one of 17 species placed in the genus '' Cyanocorax'' that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826. The name of the genus is from Ancient Greek ''kuanos'' "dark-blue" and ''korakos'' "raven". The specific epithet ''yncas'' is from Incas, the inhabitants of Peru in pre-Columbian America. Five

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * '' C. y. galeatus'' ( Ridgway, 1900) – west central Colombia * '' C. y. cyanodorsalis'' Dubois, AJC, 1874 – central and east Colombia, northwest Venezuela * '' C. y. guatimalensis'' ( Bonaparte, 1850) – north Venezuela * '' C. y. yncas'' ( Boddaert, 1783) – southwest Colombia, east Ecuador, Peru to central Bolivia * '' C. y. longirostris'' ( Carriker, 1933) – Marañon Valley (north Peru) Some ornithologists treat the green jay of North America and the Inca jay as conspecific and with ''C. yncas luxuosus'' as the green jay and ''C. yncas yncas'' as the Inca jay.

Description

The Inca jay is in length. The crown can appear mostly white, with blue limited to the frontal crest and nape. A black bib forms a broad band up to the sides of the head as well as a stripe through the eye line and one above it. The breast and underparts typically are bright yellow. The upper parts are rich green. The color of the iris is bright yellow.

Voice

As with most of the typical jays, this species has a very extensive voice repertoire. The bird's most common call makes a ' sound, but many other unusual notes also occur. One of the most distinctive calls sounds like an alarm bell.

Distribution and habitat

The range extends southwards in the Andes from the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and Venezuela through Ecuador, Peru, and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Inca jays usually build a nest in a tree or in a thorny bush or thicket, and the female lays three to five eggs. Only the female incubates, but both parents take care of the young. In

, Inca jays are recorded as retaining offspring for several years, and those young help the parents raise more chicks.Green Jay, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved on 2013-03-30. In Venezuela, they have been observed being victims of nest parasitism by giant cowbirds.

Feeding

Their basic diet consists of arthropods, vertebrates, seeds, and fruit.

References

External links

Green Jay videos
on the Internet Bird Collection

(for Belize, Venezuela) (shows RangeMap)
Green Jay photo gallery
VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q26274996 Inca Jay Tool-using animals Birds of the Northern Andes Inca jay Inca jay