Eurasian jay
Eurasian jay | |
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Nominate subspecies in Belgium
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Corvidae |
Genus: | Garrulus |
Species: | G. glandarius
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Binomial name | |
Garrulus glandarius | |
Subspecies | |
33 (in eight groups) - see text | |
Range | |
Synonyms | |
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The Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a species of
The bird is called jay, without any epithets, by English speakers in Great Britain and Ireland.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Eurasian jay was
Eight racial groups (33 subspecies in total) were recognised by Steve Madge & Hilary Burn in 1994:[8]
- the nominate group (nine European races), with a streaked crown.
- the cervicalis group (three races in North Africa), with a rufous nape, grey mantle, very pale head sides, and a streaked or black crown.
- the atricapillus group (four races in Middle East, Crimea & Turkey), with a uniform mantle & nape, black crown and very pale face.
- the race hyrcanus (Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests of Iran), small with black forecrown and broadly streaked hindcrown.
- the brandtii group (four races in Siberia and northern Japan), with a streaked crown, reddish head, dark iris and grey mantle.
- the leucotis group (two races in south-east Asia), with no white in the wing, a white forecrown, black hindcrown and much white on the sides of the head.
- the bispecularis group (six races in the Himalayanregion), with an unstreaked rufous crown, and no white wing-patch.
- the japonicus group (four races in the southern Japanese islands), with a large white wing-patch, blackish face and scaled crown.
The
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G. g. bispecularis
Uttarakhand, India -
G. g. atricapillus
Jerusalem, Israel -
G. g. glaszneri
Troodos Mountains, Cyprus
Description
The Eurasian jay is a relatively small corvid, similar in size to a western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula) with a length of 34–35 cm (13–14 in) and a wingspan of 52–58 cm (20–23 in).[11] The nominate race has light rufous brown to a pinkish brown body plumage. The whitish throat is bordered on each side by a prominent black moustache stripe. The forehead and crown are whitish with black stripes. The rump is white. The complex colouring on the upper surface of the wing includes black and white bars and a prominent bright blue patch with fine black bars. The tail is mainly black.[8]
Voice
The most characteristic call is a harsh, rasping screech that is used upon sighting various predators and as a advertising call. The jay is well known for its mimicry, often sounding so like a different species that it is difficult to distinguish its true identity unless the bird is seen. It will imitate the calls of birds of prey such as the mew of the common buzzard and the cackle of the northern goshawk.[12][13]
Distribution and habitat
A member of the widespread jay group, it inhabits mixed woodland, particularly with oaks, and is a habitual acorn hoarder. In recent years, the bird has begun to migrate into urban areas, possibly as a result of continued erosion of its woodland habitat. Before humans began planting the trees commercially on a wide scale, Eurasian jays were the main source of movement and propagation for the European oak (Q. robur), each bird having the ability to spread more than a thousand acorns each year. Eurasian jays will also bury the acorns of other oak species, and have been cited by the National Trust as a major propagator of the largest population of holm oak (Q. ilex) in Northern Europe, situated in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.[14] Jays have been recorded carrying single acorns as far as 20 km, and are credited with the rapid northward spread of oaks following the last ice age.[15]
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
Eurasian jays normally first breed when two years of age, although they occasionally breed when only one year. Both sexes build the nest which is usually placed in a fork or on a branch of a tree close to the main trunk at a height of 2–5 m (6 ft 7 in – 16 ft 5 in) above the ground. Very occasionally the nest is located on a building. The nest has a base of twigs 3–15 mm (0.12–0.59 in) in diameter and a lining of thinner twigs, roots, grass, moss and leaves. The eggs are laid daily, normally early in the morning. The clutch is 3–6 eggs which are pale green to pale olive brown and are covered with fine darker speckles. They sometimes have brown or black streaks concentrated at the broader end. The eggs are 31.3 mm × 23.0 mm (1.23 in × 0.91 in) and weigh around 8.5 g (0.30 oz). They are incubated by the female and hatch after 16–19 days. While the female is on the nest the male brings her food. Both parents feed and care for the young which fledge after 19–23 days. The parents continue to feed the fledgelings until they are 6–8 weeks of age. Only a single brood is raised each year.[16]
The maximum recorded age is 16 years and 9 months for a bird in Skelton, York, United Kingdom, that was ringed in 1966 and found dead in 1983.[17][18]
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Nest with eggs
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Juvenile Eurasian jay in South Korea
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Garrulus glandarius atricapillus -MHNT
Diet
Feeding in both trees and on the ground, it takes a wide range of
Health
In order to keep its plumage free from parasites, it lies on top of anthills with spread wings and lets its feathers be sprayed with formic acid.
Intelligence
Similar to other corvids, Eurasian jays have been reported to plan for future needs.[21] Male Eurasian jays also take into account the desires of their partner when sharing food with her as a courtship ritual[22] and when protecting food items from thieving conspecifics.[23]
References
- . Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 106.
- ^ Hartert, Ernst (1903). Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin: R. Friedländer und Sohn. p. 29.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 229.
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 1. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. p. 30.
- Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7136-3999-5. (although the text accompanying plate 11 states "some 35 races", the species account on page 95 states that 33 are recognised, and the sum of the numbers of races listed for each group is 33, indicating that the figure accompanying the plate is an error)
- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "White-faced Jay Garrulus leucotis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Plain-crowned Jay Garrulus bispecularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Cramp 1994, p. 7.
- ISBN 978-0-00-726814-6.
- ^ Cramp 1994, pp. 19–20.
- ^ "The holm oaks of Ventnor Downs". National Trust. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- .
- ^ Cramp 1994, pp. 23–25.
- ^ Robinson, R.A.; Leech, D.I.; Clark, J.A. (2020). "Longevity records for Britain & Ireland in 2019". British Trust for Ornithology. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "European Longevity Records". Euring. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- OCLC 779008612. Archived from the originalon 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- .
- PMID 22048890.
- PMID 23382187.
- PMID 28118584.
Cited sources
- ISBN 978-0-19-854679-5.
Further reading
- Cheke, Lucy G.; Bird, Christopher D.; Clayton, Nicola S. (2011). "Tool-use and instrumental learning in the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)". Animal Cognition. 14 (3): 441–455. S2CID 9123984.
External links
- The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - Birds & Wildlife - Jay
- Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze (PDF; 1.1 MB)
- Feathers of Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)
- Jay photos and information (in Turkish)
- BirdLife species factsheet for Garrulus glandarius
- "Eurasian jay media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Eurasian jay photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Garrulus glandarius at IUCN Red List maps
- Garrulus glandarius in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
- Eurasian jay media from ARKive