Transvolcanic Jay
Encyclopedia
The Transvolcanic Jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina) is a medium-large (~120 g) passerine similar in size to most other jay
s, with a blue head, blue-gray mantle, blue wings and tail, gray breast and underparts. The sexes are morphologically similar, and juveniles differ only in having less blue coloration. The iris is brown and legs are black. It is most readily distinguished by the plain (unstreaked) throat and breast, and the mantle contrasting less with the head and wings.
as a separate species, called the Transvolcanic Jay (A. ultramarina), based on diagnosable phenotypic differences in plumage and morphology, millions of years of genetic divergence, and no evidence for interbreeding with Mexican Jays. The Transvolcanic Jay inhabits montane forest in the Transvolcanic Belt of central Mexico. Populations to the north retained the common name Mexican Jay, but their Latin name changed to A. wollweberi because the Transvolcanic Jay is the original A. ultramarina.
Jay
The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex...
s, with a blue head, blue-gray mantle, blue wings and tail, gray breast and underparts. The sexes are morphologically similar, and juveniles differ only in having less blue coloration. The iris is brown and legs are black. It is most readily distinguished by the plain (unstreaked) throat and breast, and the mantle contrasting less with the head and wings.
Systematics
A recent decision by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list Committee treats some populations of the Mexican JayMexican Jay
The Mexican Jay, Aphelocoma wollweberi, formerly known as the Gray-breasted Jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico. It reaches north to eastern Arizona, western New Mexico and western Texas in the United States...
as a separate species, called the Transvolcanic Jay (A. ultramarina), based on diagnosable phenotypic differences in plumage and morphology, millions of years of genetic divergence, and no evidence for interbreeding with Mexican Jays. The Transvolcanic Jay inhabits montane forest in the Transvolcanic Belt of central Mexico. Populations to the north retained the common name Mexican Jay, but their Latin name changed to A. wollweberi because the Transvolcanic Jay is the original A. ultramarina.