Cyanocorax
Plush-crested jay, Cyanocorax chrysops
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Cyanocorax
F. Boie, 1826
Type species
Corvus pileatus[1]
Temminck, 1821
Species

see text

Cyanocorax is a genus of New World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words κυανος (kuanos), meaning "dark blue," and κοραξ (korax), meaning "raven".[2][3]

It contains several closely related species that primarily are found in wooded habitats of Mexico and Central and South America, with the green jay just barely entering the United States.

The genus Cyanocorax was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826, with the plush-crested jay as the type species.[4][5]

Species

The genus contains 17 species:[6]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Cyanocorax melanocyaneus Bushy-crested jay Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua
Cyanocorax sanblasianus San Blas jay Mexico
Cyanocorax yucatanicus Yucatan jay Yucatán Peninsula
Cyanocorax beecheii Purplish-backed jay northwestern Mexico
Cyanocorax violaceus Violaceous jay Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela
Cyanocorax caeruleus Azure jay south-eastern Brazil (São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul), far eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina
Cyanocorax cyanomelas Purplish jay northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and southeastern Peru
Cyanocorax cristatellus Curl-crested jay northeastern Brazil
Cyanocorax dickeyi Tufted jay Sierra Madre Occidental of Sinaloa and Durango in Mexico
Cyanocorax affinis Black-chested jay Colombia, northwestern Venezuela, Panama and far eastern Costa Rica
Cyanocorax mystacalis White-tailed jay Ecuador and Peru
Cyanocorax cayanus Cayenne jay Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela
Cyanocorax heilprini Azure-naped jay Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela
Cyanocorax chrysops Plush-crested jay southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina
Cyanocorax cyanopogon White-naped jay Brazil
Cyanocorax luxuosus Green jay southern Texas to Honduras
Cyanocorax yncas Inca jay Colombia and Venezuela through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia

Some ornithologists treat the green jay and the Inca jay as conspecific, with C. yncas luxuosus as the green jay and C. yncas yncas as the Inca jay.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Corvidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Holloway, Joel Ellis (2003). Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names. Timber Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-88192-600-2.
  3. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2015). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015.
  4. ^ Boie, Friedrich (1826). "Generalübersicht". Isis von Oken (in German). Col 975.
  5. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-list of birds of the world. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 220.
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. ^ dos Anjos, L. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. pp. 240–241. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.

External links

Extant species of family Corvidae
Genera of corvides and their extinct allies
Taxon identifiers
Authority control databases: National
Categories