Alternative names: Plain-tipped Brown Jay; Plain-tailed Brown Jay; White-tipped Brown Jay
- Psilorhinus morio
Cyanocorax morio
Identification
38–44 cm (3-5¼ in)
- Dark brown upperparts
- Pale brown underparts
- Dark brown head
- Thick black bill
- White-tipped tail
- Black legs and feet
Juvenile: yellow bill
Geographical variation
There are two main groups.
Northern birds: dark brown, with paler underparts.
Southern birds: white-bellies; white tipped outer tailfeathers.
Distribution
From southernmost Texas and eastern Mexico, mostly along the Caribbean coast through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, to western Panama.
Taxonomy
Has also been placed in genus Cyanocorax.
Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognized[1]:
- P. m. palliatus:
- P. m. morio:
- South-eastern Mexico (coastal central Veracruz to eastern Tabasco and northern Chiapas)
- P. m. cyanogenys:
- P. m. vociferus:
- Northern Yucatán Peninsula (Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo)
Habitat
Thickets and woodland near water. Visits garden feeders.
Behaviour
Diet
The varied diet consists of insects, invertebrates, lizards, fruit, balsa flowers and nectar from bananas.
Breeding
Both sexes build the nest. The clutch consists of 3-6 eggs which is incubated by the female for 18-20 days.
Vocalisation
A loud but low pitched pee-ah call.
The Brown Jay has a furcular pouch of the intraclavicular air sac that is most likely used to produced a sound like a hiccup, a structure not found in any other species of Jay.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Brown Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 6 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Jay
