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ForestCavity nestMedium · 159 g
What the Eurasian Jay sounds like
ID tip
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). 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. Voice: The most characteristic call is a harsh, rasping screech that is used upon sighting various predators and as an 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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Eurasian Jay
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Eurasian Jay
The map shades 74 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Monaco, United States.
About the Eurasian Jay
The Eurasian jay, also known simply as the jay without any epithets in the United Kingdom and Ireland, is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It has pinkish brown plumage with a black stripe on each side of a whitish throat, a bright blue panel on the upper wing and a black tail. The Eurasian jay is a woodland bird that occurs over a vast region from western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian subcontinent and farther to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia. Across this vast range, several distinct racial forms have evolved which look different from each other, especially when comparing forms at the extremes of its range.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Black-headed JayGarrulus lanceolatusThe black-headed jay is roughly the same size as its close relative the Eurasian jay, but a little more slender overall.
Lidth's JayGarrulus lidthiLidth's jay, also known as the Amami jay, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
Side by side: Black-headed Jay vs Eurasian Jay
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