White-collared Jay (Cyanolyca viridicyanus)

Order: Passeriformes | Family: CorvidaeIUCN Status: Least Concern

white-collared_jay
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Manu Road, Cuzco

white-collared_jay
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Amazonas, Peru

white-collared_jay
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Manu Road, Cuzco

white-collared_jay
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Manu Road, Cuzco


Identification & Behavior: ~31 cm (12.2 in). The White-collared Jay is all blue with a variable amount of white on the forehead and thin superciliary. It has a black mask through the eye and a blue or blackish throat bordered below by a thin white collar. It forages in family groups in the canopy and sub-canopy of humid montane forest. It is very similar to the Turquoise Jay but their ranges are separated by the Marañon Valley.

Status: The White-collared Jay is fairly common in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1800-3500 m. It also occurs in Bo.

Name in Spanish: Urraca de Collar Blanco.

Sub-species: White-collared Jay (Cyanolyca viridicyanus jolyaea), (Bonaparte), 1852.  N & C Peru (from Amazonas S to Junín).
(Cyanolyca viridicyanus cyanolaema), Hellmayr, 1917.  SE Peru (Cuzco and Puno).
(Cyanolyca viridicyanus viridicyanus), (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye), 1838.  NW Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Cyanolyca: Gr. kuanos= dark-blue and lukos= a type of crow, perhaps the Jackdaw, mentioned by Aristotle and Hesychius. viridicyanus: L. viridis, virere=  green, to be green and kuaneos, cyaneus=  dark-blue, glossy dark-blue.

See more of the Family Corvidae peru aves

Distribution Map
white-collared_jayVoice


References:

    • Species range based on: Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, and L. Rico. 2006. Distribution maps of the birds of Peru, version 1.0. Environment, Culture & Conservation (ECCo). The Field Museum.  http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/uw_test/birdsofperu on 03/01/2016.