Jays are a familiar sight across much of the United States and Canada, with 10 jay species spread across the continent. These corvids are all visually striking in their own way, but perhaps none so much as the green jay, a tropical bird found in just one corner of the U.S.
Travel Required
To see this unique flier in the U.S., you'll have to travel to southern Texas, which is the very northern edge of the green jay's range. Green jays are also found in parts of Mexico and northern Central America, with a second population in South America-however, some think those birds, living almost 900 miles away, are an entirely different species because they are larger and live in different habitats.
Frequent Hangouts
This story is from the August/September 2023 edition of Birds & Blooms.
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This story is from the August/September 2023 edition of Birds & Blooms.
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Sense or Nonsense? - Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
Maple Mania - Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
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Food-Focused and Fierce - Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Even if you haven't heard of Canada jays, you've heard of their relatives. Members of the corvid family, they belong to the same group as American crows, blackbilled magpies, and jays including blue, Steller's and scrub. "Unlike many of the other jays, a Canada jay doesn't have a crest of any kind; it just has a rounded head," says Dale Gentry, director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River.In 2018, the Canada jay's name was changed from gray jay, but Dale thinks the former adjective was fitting. "Most of its body is shades of gray with some white," he says. "There are different subspecies that have different physical traits, but most of them have some lighter coloring on their foreheads, upper breasts and throats, each with a darker streak that starts at each eye and goes back."
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