Jay
Bird
title: "Jay" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["corvidae", "bird-common-names"] description: "Bird" topic_path: "general/corvidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Bird ::
| auto = yes | image = Eurasian jay (00568).jpg | image_caption = Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) | image2 = Eichelhaeher.ogg | image2_caption = Eurasian jay calling 'jay' | parent = Corvidae | includes_text = Genera | includes = *Garrulus
- Podoces
- Perisoreus
- Aphelocoma
- Gymnorhinus
- Cyanocitta
- Cyanocorax
- Cyanolyca | excludes = *Cissa
- Coloeus
- Corvus
- Crypsirina
- Cyanopica
- Dendrocitta
- Nucifraga
- Pica
- Platysmurus
- Ptilostomus
- Pyrrhocorax
- Temnurus
- Urocissa
- Zavattariornis
Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities; they are small to medium-sized, usually have brightly coloured feathers and short tails, and are quite noisy. These superificial characteristics set them apart from most other corvids such as crows, ravens, jackdaws, rooks and magpies, which are mostly larger, or longer-tailed, and have darker plumage. Many so-called "jays" are genetically closer to these other corvids than other jays, however. The name 'jay' is onomatopoeic, based on the harsh call of the species originally so named, Garrulus glandarius.
Systematics and species
Jays are not a monophyletic group. Anatomical and molecular evidence indicates they can be divided into a New World and an Old World lineage (the latter including the ground jays and the piapiac), while the grey jays of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. The black magpies, formerly believed to be related to jays, are classified as treepies.
Old World ("brown") jays
::data[format=table]
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:A Jay With A Peanut (113365691).jpeg | 175px]] | Garrulus Brisson, 1760 - 'typical' jays |
| [[File:Podoces panderi 387879466.jpg | 175px]] | Podoces Fischer von Waldheim, 1821 - Ground jays |
| :: |
Grey jays
::data[format=table]
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:Perisoreus canadensis mercier2.jpg | 175px]] | Perisoreus Bonaparte, 1831 - Grey jays |
| :: |
New World jays
::data[format=table]
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:Aphelocoma insularis Bouton 2.jpg | 175px]] | Aphelocoma Cabanis, 1851 - Scrub-jays |
| [[File:Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus1.jpg | 175px]] | Gymnorhinus Wied-Neuwied, 1841 |
| [[File:Bluejay (Cyanocitta cristata) (1547) - Relic38.jpg | 175px]] | Cyanocitta Strickland, 1845 |
| [[File:Cyanocorax luxuosus calling.jpg | 175px]] | Cyanocorax F. Boie, 1826 |
| [[File:Turquoise jay.jpg | 175px]] | Cyanolyca Cabanis, 1851 |
| :: |
In culture
Slang
The word jay has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently.
The term jaywalking was coined in the first decade of the 1900s to label persons crossing a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard. The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established.
In January 2014, the Canadian author Robert Joseph Greene embarked on a lobbying campaign among ornithologists in Europe and North America to get Merriam-Websters Dictionary to have a "Jabber of Jays" as an official term under bird groups.
References
References
- (May 2005). "Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data". [[Journal of Avian Biology]].
- "Jay". freedictionary.com.
- (26 October 2024). "Definition of Jay by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-Webster, Inc..
- (28 August 2024). "Definition of Jaywalker by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-Webster, Inc..
- {{OED. jay-walker
- (2 January 2014). "Writer lobbies for new word to describe jays". Vancouver Courier.
- (6 January 2014). "British Ornithologists' Union: What say ye countrymen to a jabber of jays?". Community News.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::