The magpie-jays are a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, ''Calocitta'', of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Corvidae (crow-like birds) native to the southern part of North America. Sometimes placed in the genus '' Cyanocorax''. The two known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

are known to form hybrids. The genus was introduced in 1841 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray with the

white-throated magpie-jay The white-throated magpie-jay (''Calocitta formosa'') is a large Central American species of magpie-jay. It ranges in Pacific-slope thorn forest from Jalisco, Mexico to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often tr ...

(''Calocitta formosa'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The name ''Calocitta'' combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''kalos'' meaning "beautiful" and ''kitta'' meaning "jay".

Species

The genus contains two species.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1991429 Calocitta Taxa named by George Robert Gray