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Blue Jay

Cyanocitta cristataOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Blue Jay Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye color: Brown iris
  • Head Pattern: Crested or plumed, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown color: Blue, Black
  • Forehead color: Blue, Purple or Violet
  • Nape Color: Purple-blue
  • Throat color: White, Gray
  • Cere color:
Splitbar
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Blue Jay Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 28 cm (11 in)
  • Weight: 85 g (3 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: Blue, White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: White washed with gray.
  • Upperparts: Blue body with fine black bars on wings.
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Blue Jay Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Direct flight with buoyant steady wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 41 cm (16 in)
  • Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Barred
  • Upper Tail: Blue with fine black bars.
  • Under Tail: White washed with gray.
  • Leg color: Gray
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Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.

Family Jays and Magpies (Corvidae)_blue
Species Cyanocitta cristata
Length11 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Blue Jay

Blue Jay: Medium, noisy jay with bright blue upperparts, pale gray underparts, distinct head crest, and neck surrounded with a curious black necklace. Black-barred wings and tail have prominent white patches. Direct flight with steady and bouyant wing beats. Glides between perches or to the ground.

● Song: "jay, jay, jay", "thief, thief, thief!"

● Foraging & Feeding: Blue Jay: Feeds on fruits, nuts, seeds, insects, mice, and frogs; sometimes robs other nests for young birds and eggs. Opens nuts by holding them in place with feet and hammering the shell with bill.

● Breeding & nesting: Blue Jay: Three to seven brown marked, light blue green or green blue eggs are laid in a coarsely built nest made of sticks, lined with grass, and well concealed in a tree, often a conifer. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Blue Jay: Steller's Jay has dark underparts. Western and Florida Scrub-Jays lack crests.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with buoyant steady wing beats.
Blue Jay Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Blue Jay: Resident east of the Rockies, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, but slowly encroaching westward. Preferred habitats include evergreen forests, farmlands, groves, and suburbs.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationWidespread
MigrationMigratory
Weight3 Ounces