Green Jay

The Green Jay occurs in two disjunct populations: one in southern Texas and adjacent Mexico, the other in the Andes and adjacent forests of South America. Despite this large geographic gap, both populations share a similarly bold and colorful pattern, combining a green back and wings with a blue-and-black head and strikingly yellow outer tail feathers.

Its unusual color combination and boldly marked face make it one of the most easily recognized jays wherever it occurs.

• Back and wing contour feathers are green, providing effective camouflage among foliage despite the bird's otherwise bold pattern
• Head feathers combine pale blue on the crown with black on the face, throat, and a bib-like patch on the upper breast
• Central tail feathers are green like the back, while the outer tail feathers are bright yellow, a striking and diagnostic contrast easily seen in a spread or shed tail feather
• Underparts feathers below the black throat patch are pale yellowish-green to whitish

Sexes look alike in plumage. Juveniles are duller, with a less crisply defined blue-and-black head pattern that sharpens with maturity through successive molts. One complete molt occurs annually in adults after breeding, and some regional variation in color intensity exists between the northern and South American populations.

• Found in two disjunct populations: southern Texas into eastern Mexico, and separately across parts of the Andes and adjacent South America
• Favors thorn scrub, woodland, and forest edge rather than deep closed-canopy forest
• Non-migratory, with resident populations in both regions

Green Jays are social and vocal, often foraging in small groups for insects, small animals, seeds, and fruit both on the ground and in vegetation. They are known for a wide variety of calls, including harsh, chattering, and bell-like notes. Nests are cup-shaped structures built in dense shrubs or trees, and in some populations, related birds may assist at the nest in a cooperative breeding pattern.