Transvolcanic jay
Transvolcanic jay
Main page
798011

Transvolcanic jay

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Transvolcanic jay

The Transvolcanic jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina) is a bird endemic to Mexico.

It is a medium-large (~120 g) passerine bird similar in size to most other jays, 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.

A 2011 decision by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list Committee treats some populations of the Mexican jay 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.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.