Inca jay

The Inca jay was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1775 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.{{ cite book | last=Buffon | first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | year=1775 | title=Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux | volume=5 | place=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | pages=158–159 | chapter=Le geai du Pérou | language=fr | chapter-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42297487 }} The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Geai de Perou | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=7 | place=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 625 | chapter-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35219075 }} Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Corvus yncas in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.{{cite book | last=Boddaert | first=Pieter | author-link=Pieter Boddaert | year=1783 | title=Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés | place=Utrecht | page=38, Number 625 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27822658 | language=fr }} Buffon's specimen came from Peru; in 1953 the American ornithologist John Todd Zimmer restricted the type location to Chilpes, Department of Junín.{{ cite book | last=Zimmer | first=John Todd | author-link=John Todd Zimmer | year=1953 | title=Studies of Peruvian birds. No. 65, The jays (Corvidae) and pipits (Motacillidae) | series=American Museum Novitates, No. 1649| location=New York | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | page=7 | hdl=2246/4927 | url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/4927 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=226 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485599 }} The Inca jay is now one of 17 species placed in the genus Cyanocorax that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826.{{ cite journal | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | year=1826 | title=Generalübersicht | journal=Isis von Oken | volume=1826 | at=Col 975| language=de |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27511179 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=World Bird List Version 9.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=25 August 2019 }} The name of the genus is from Ancient Greek kuanos "dark-blue" and korakos "raven". The specific epithet yncas is from the Incas, the inhabitants of Peru in pre-Columbian America.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n126 126], 412 }}

Five subspecies are recognised:

• C. y. galeatus (Ridgway, 1900) – Found in western Colombia. Similar to C. y. yncas but with a larger crest.{{cite journal |last1=Giese |first1=Jordan C. |last2=Hall |first2=Jared D. |editor-first1=Shawn M. |editor-last1=Billerman |title=Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) |journal=Birds of the World |date=19 January 2024 |doi=10.2173/bow.grnjay.02}}
• C. y. cyanodorsalis Dubois, AJC, 1874 – East of the Andes in Colombia and northwest Venezuela. Smaller that C. y. geleatus but with a dark blue crest, white stripe on the forehead, blue crown and neck, dark green back, and darker legs.
• C. y. guatimalensis (Bonaparte, 1850) – Found in mountainous region in northern Venezuela. Similar to C. y. cyandorsalis, but with shorter crest, less blue overall, and thinner white stripe on forehead. Brownish legs and irises.
• C. y. yncas (Boddaert, 1783) – Found in southwestern Columbia to eastern Ecuador and peru, into central Bolivia. Nominate subspecies.
• C. y. longirostris (Carriker, 1933) – Found along the Marañon Valley in north Peru. Similar to C. y. yncas but larger.

Inca jay (Cyanocorax yncas yncas) San Isidro.jpg|C. y. yncas, Ecuador

Inca jay (Cyanocorax yncas yncas) head San Isidro.jpg|C. y. yncas, Ecuador

Some ornithologists treat the green jay of North America and the Inca jay as conspecific and with C. yncas luxuosus as the green jay and C. yncas yncas as the Inca jay.{{cite journal | last=dos Anjos| first=L. | year=2018 | title=Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | journal=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.ampkin1.01 | s2cid=216239337 | url=http://www.hbw.com/node/55804 | access-date=16 May 2018 |url-access=subscription }}{{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Christidis | editor-first2=L. | editor2-link=Leslie Christidis | year=2014 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=2: Passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-2-2 | pages=240–241 }} A 2010 mitochondrial DNA study found that there were some genetic differences that support the theory that they are separate species, although it indicated that further research was required to confirm the findings.{{cite journal |last1=Bonaccorso |first1=Elisa |last2=Peterson |first2=A. Townsend |last3=Navarro-Sigüenza |first3=Adolfo G. |last4=Fleischer |first4=Robert C. |title=Molecular systematics and evolution of the Cyanocorax jays |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=March 2010 |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=897–909 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.11.014 |pmid=19931623 |url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/6568/atp.mpe.molecular_systematics_and_evolution.2010.pdf;sequence=1 |access-date=4 March 2024|hdl=1808/6568 |hdl-access=free }}

The following cladogram (simplified from the 2010 mitochondrial DNA study) shows the relationship between species in the genus Cyanocorax.{{sfnp|Bonaccorso|Peterson|Navarro-Sigüenza|Fleischer|2010|p=902}}

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%;

|1={{clade

|1=Inca jay (C. yncas)

|2=White-tailed jay (C. mystacalis)

|3={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Cayenne jay (C. cayanus)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Plush-crested jay (C. chrysops)

|2=White-naped jay (C. cyanopogon)

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Azure-naped jay (C. heilprini)

|2=Black-chested jay (C. affinis)

}}

}}

|2=Tufted jay (C. dickeyi)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Bushy-crested jay (C. melanocyaneus)

|2={{clade

|1=Yucatan jay (C. yucatanicus)

|2={{clade

|1=San Blas jay (C. sanblasianus)

|2=Purplish-backed jay (C. beecheii)

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

File:Inca Jay Colombia.jpg

The Inca jay is {{cvt|29.5|–|30.5|cm}} in length. The crown can appear mostly white, with blue limited to the frontal crest and nape. A black bib forms a broad band up to the sides of the head as well as a stripe through the eye line and one above it. The breast and underparts typically are bright yellow.

The upper parts are rich green. The color of the iris is bright yellow.{{ cite book | last1=Ridgely | first1=Robert S. | last2=Tudor | first2=Guy | year=2009 | title=Birds of South America: Passerines | series=Helm Field Guides | place=London | publisher=Christopher Helm | isbn=978-1-408-11342-4 | page=518 }}

As with most of the typical jays, this species has a very extensive voice repertoire. The bird's most common call makes a {{not a typo|rassh-rassh-rassh}} sound, but many other unusual notes also occur. One of the most distinctive calls sounds like an alarm bell.

The range extends southwards in the Andes from the Colombia and Venezuela through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Inca jays usually build a nest in a tree or a thorny bush or thicket, and the female lays three to five eggs. Only the female incubates, but both parents take care of the young. In Venezuela, they have been observed being victims of nest parasitism by giant cowbirds.

Their basic diet consists of arthropods, vertebrates, seeds, and fruit.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Cyanocorax yncas}}

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/green-jay-cyanocorax-yncas Green Jay videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020427222203/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/18901200.htm Stamps]}} (for Belize, Venezuela) (shows RangeMap)
• [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=green+jay&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Green Jay photo gallery] VIREO

{{Corvidae|3}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q26274996}}

Inca Jay

Category:Tool-using animals

Category:Birds of the Northern Andes

Inca jay

Inca jay