| Dwarf jay | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Cyanolyca |
| Species: | C. nanus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cyanolyca nanus (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1847) | |
 | |
Thedwarf jay (Cyanolyca nanus) is thebird in the familyCorvidae, the crows and jays. It isendemic to Mexico.[1][3]
The dwarf jay wasoriginally described in 1847 asCyanocorax nanus.[4] It was later reassigned to its present genusCyanolyca that was erected in 1851.[3]
The dwarf jay is the smallest jay in the Americas at 20 to 23 cm (7.9 to 9.1 in) long.[5] Four individuals weighed 39 to 41.4 g (1.4 to 1.5 oz).[6] The sexes have the same plumage though females tend to be duller than males. Adults have a black mask from thelores and chin to the cheeks and earcoverts. They have blue crown with a thin paler blue stripe separating it from the mask. Their upperparts are grayish or violet-blue that is brighter on the wings and tail. Their throat is pale purplish or whitish blue and the rest of their underparts grayish blue. The undersides of their wings and tail are grayish. They have a red brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles are duller overall than adults. They have no stripe between the crown and mask and their throat is grayish blue.[5][6]
The dwarf jay is found intermittently in southeastern Mexico in southwesternVeracruz, far easternPuebla, and northernOaxaca states. It primarily inhabits humidpine-oak forest in the upper subtropical and temperate zones. It is also often in forest dominated byfir trees and insecondary forest near its preferred habitat. It greatly favors forest with a dense understory and subcanopy.[5][6][7] Sources differ on its elevation range with 1,600 to 3,200 m (5,200 to 10,500 ft)[7], 1,500 to 3,000 m (4,900 to 9,800 ft)[5], 1,600 to 3,000 m (5,200 to 9,800 ft)[8], and 2,500 to 3,050 m (8,200 to 10,000 ft)[9] all being listed.
The dwarf jay is a year-round resident.[7]
The dwarf jay is believed to be primarily insectivorous though details are lacking. During the breeding season it typically forages in pairs but outside it is inmixed species feeding flocks of up to about 20 individuals. It forages mostly from the forest's mid-story to its lower canopy, agily seeking prey in vegetation, mosses, and in bark crevices, sometimes briefly hovering or hanging upside-down.[5][6]
The dwarf jay's breeding season begins with nest construction in March and apparently extends to July. Is nest is a large cup made from moss and lichens lined with pine needles and thin rootlets. Nest have been observed between about 3 and 15 m (10 and 50 ft) above the ground, typically in the crown of a tree or at a branch end. The clutch is two to three eggs that are pale greenish blue with olive markings. The incubation period is about 20 days but the time to fledging is not known. The female incubates the clutch, both parents provision nestlings, and only the female broods them.[5][6]
| Songs and calls |
The dwarf jay has a limited number of vocalizations compared to other jays. Its typical call is "a nasalshree’up, uttered in units of two or three or a nasalshiev'a shiev'a".[6]
TheIUCN originally in 1988 assessed the dwarf jay as Threatened, then in 1994 as Endangered, in 2000 as Vulnerable, and since 2019 as Near Threatened. It has a restricted and fragmented range; its estimated population of between 2500 and 10,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. "Logging, agricultural expansion, firewood-gathering, road and tourist developments, sheep-ranching, intense grazing and intensive urbanisation have resulted in extensive and continuing destruction and fragmentation of the species’s [sic] habitat."[1] It is described as "fairly common to common"[6] and as "not uncommon"[5].
