The azure-naped jay (''Cyanocorax heilprini'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Corvidae Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan Family (biology), family of Songbird, oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, Rook (bird), rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and Nutcracker (bird), nutcrackers ...

. It is found in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

Taxonomy

The Azure-naped jay was first described by Alan F. Gentry based on a single specimen, marked as a male, from the T. B. Wilson Collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Cyanocorax comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''kuanos'' (dark blue) and ''korax'' (raven). The species epithet ''heilprini'' honours Gentry's friend, Professor Angelo Heilprin. There are two identified

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: * ''C. h. heilprini''. The nominate subspecies. * ''C. h. hafferi''. This subspecies, Campina Jay, was described as a new species in 2013, but the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union did not support the proposal.

Description

The back is dark brown, as are the upper sides of the wings and tail. The rear crown and nape are bright lavender blue. The front and sides of the head are black, with the feathers of the forecrown and forehead curled up and forwards in a short bushy crest. From the chin to the centre of the breast the bird is dark violaceous-grey. The lower breast and belly are violaceous, fading to white on the lower belly and vent. The eyes are pale to yellowish-white and the bill, feet and legs are black.

Distribution and Habitat

This species is a native resident species of the Amazon basin, found from Southeast Colombia to Southwest Venezuela (Amazonas) and extreme northwest Brazil. It is a bird of the lower tropical zone, found at altitudes of 250m and below. Its preferred habitat is stunted forests, forest edges and second growth on sandy soils in the upper Río Negro basin, as well as in lighter savannah woodland. Two recent surveys of birds Amazon basin found the Azure-naped jay is endemic to areas of white sand forest, and is not found in nearby areas of nearby terra firme forests, seasonally flooded forests and Amazonian savannas.

Behaviour

These birds are found in noisy groups that travel slowly, foraging at all levels. They are wary of observers and will utter alarm cries, taking turns to observe an intruder before moving on, or simply disappear into surrounding vegetation.

Status

The azure-naped jay is rated a species of Least Concern by Birdlife International, because it occurs over a very large range and the population, though declining, is not thought to be declining rapidly enough to reach the threshold of Vulnerable status. CyanocoraxHeilpriniSmit

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2667834 azure-naped jay Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon azure-naped jay Taxonomy articles created by Polbot