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The brown jay (''Psilorhinus morio'') is a large American
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
Juvenile brown jay with yellow bill photo
by Monte M. Taylor at tsuru-bird.net * *
at greglasley.net
at otterside.com * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2667717 brown jay Birds of the Rio Grande valleys Birds of Mexico Birds of Central America Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala brown jay Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
jay
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...
which has the habitus of a magpie, but is slightly smaller and with a shorter tail, though the bill is larger.
It occurs from Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
south into Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
on the Gulf slope. The northernmost extent of the bird is in the Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. Th ...
of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
Description
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
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
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.
Ecology
Food is sought largely in trees but brown jays also take some food from the ground. They are rather indiscriminate feeders. Insects and a wide range of other invertebrates are taken, also lizards, nectar, and fruit (e.g. that of ''Trophis racemosa
''Trophis racemosa'', commonly named white ramoon, is a species of plant of the fig family native to Latin America.
References
Moraceae
Plants described in 1753
{{Moraceae-stub ...
'' (Moraceae
The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...
)). Though they will take eggs and nestlings, they appear not to if there is plenty of other food available.
The nest is built in a tree or large shrub with both sexes helping in construction. There are normally three eggs laid but six is not unusual. Incubation is between 18 and 20 days. Only the female broods but the male feeds her while doing so.
Sometimes the offspring from a previous season will help in raising the chicks. If a helper bird returns with food, it will give it to one of the resident parents to feed the chicks.
Range
In Central America, the brown jay is not found in El Salvador; the range is on thePacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
side of Central America in Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, Costa Rica, and western Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
. It does not extend into South America.
References
Further reading
*External links
Juvenile brown jay with yellow bill photo
by Monte M. Taylor at tsuru-bird.net * *
at greglasley.net
at otterside.com * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2667717 brown jay Birds of the Rio Grande valleys Birds of Mexico Birds of Central America Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala brown jay Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN