Black-collared jay


The black-collared jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae, the crows and jays. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Taxonomy and systematics

The black-collared jay was originally described in 1845 as Cyanocorax armillatus. It and several other species were later moved to their current genus Cyanolyca. The black-collared jay and the turquoise jay were for a time treated as subspecies of the white-collared jay but they were separated beginning in the 1950s.
The black-collared jay's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and the Clements taxonomy assign it these three subspecies:C. a. armillata C. a. meridana Sclater & Salvin, 1876C. a. quindiuna Sclater & Salvin, 1876
However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treats quindiuna as a separate species, the Quindio jay, and retains the English name "black-collared jay" for the other two subspecies. Clements does recognize the taxon within the species as the "black-collared jay ". At least one nineteenth centur author called the taxon Xanthura quindiuna.
This article follows the one-species, three-subspecies model.

Description

The black-collared jay is long and weighs about. 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. meridana is slightly darker and more purplish blue than the nominate. C. a. quindiuna is larger than the nominate. Its crown and nape are darker and its body, wings, and tail have a greenish tinge. Juveniles are duller than adults and have a grayer throat and more grayish body feathers that have blue only on their tips. All subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the black-collared jay are found thus:C. a. armillata: Andes from southern Táchira in western Venezuela south in Colombia's Eastern Andes to Cundinamarca DepartmentC. a. meridana: Andes of western Venezuela from northern Táchira north through Mérida into TrujilloC. a. quindiuna: primarily in Colombia's Central Andes from Antioquia Department south slightly into northern Ecuador; also in Colombia at northern end of the Western Andes and the Eastern Andes north to Huila Department
The black-collared jay inhabits the interior and edges of cloudforest, elfin forest, and mature secondary forest, especially in areas with much bamboo and tree ferns. In elevation it ranges between in Venezuela and Colombia and between in Ecuador.

Behavior

Movement

The black-collared jay is a year-round resident.

Feeding

The black-collared jay feeds mostly on insects and also includes some fruits in its diet. It typically forages in pairs or small flocks and sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages mostly in the forest's subcanopy and canopy.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the black-collared jay's breeding biology.

Vocalization

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!, a soft chattered croooh, and a peep".

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has separately assessed the black-collared jay sensu stricto and the "Quindio jay". Both have large ranges. The size of neither population is known but both are believed to be stable. No immediate threats to either has been identified. "Forested habitat within the is currently not at risk, as tree cover loss is very low." The black-collared jay is considered uncommon in Venezuela, fairly common in Colombia, and "very rare and apparently local" in Ecuador. It is found in at least one protected area in Venezuela and several in Colombia.