Bird Guide

Black-collared Jay vs White-collared Jay

Black-collared Jay (Cyanolyca armillata)

Black-collared Jay

Cyanolyca armillata

Medium200 gForest

The black-collared jay is 30 to 32 cm (12 to 13 in) long and weighs about 100 g (3.5 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. a. armillata have a violaceous-blue crown and nape. Their forehead, lores, and sides of the head are black. Their throat and middle of the upper breast are ultramarine with a thin black border that connects to the rear of the black face. Most of the rest of their plumage is cyan-blue. The inner edges of their primaries are dark brown and the undersides of their wings and tail are blackish. Subspecies C. a. Voice: The black-collared jay has a large repertoire of vocalizations which are generally "short and often musical notes, including ‘falsetto’ notes". They include "a rising, almost twanging hrwee, various shrill rising and falling notes, a sharp, stuttered jet-jtjtjtjt, a low guttural wowr, and a soft, liquid craa schree, in alarm a sharp staccato upward-inflected reek!

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Black-collared Jay
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Napo: 4.5 km below Oyacachi, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Daniel Mesa · CC BY 4.0
White-collared Jay (Cyanolyca viridicyanus)

White-collared Jay

Cyanolyca viridicyanus

Medium120 gForest

The white-collared jay is 30 to 34 cm (12 to 13 in) long and weighs 82 to 127 g (2.9 to 4.5 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. v. viridicyanus have a black forehead, lores, and sides of the head. Their forecrown is white that extends as a thin border around the black and below the throat. Their throat and middle of the upper breast are indigo that is almost black. Most of the rest of their plumage is cerulean blue that is slightly bluer on the crown and nape. The undersides of their wings and tail are blackish. Subspecies C. v. Voice: What is thought to be the white-collared jay's song is "a very quiet, but remarkably varied, series of whistles, warbles, electric crackles, static, and other sounds". Its calls are "loud, electric or static sounds, popping noises, and high whistled phrases a wheezy whistled series: chew chew chew".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Allan Harris · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-collared Jay and White-collared Jay.