| Mexican jay | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mexican jay from Madera Canyon, Arizona, Aphelocoma wollweberi arizonae. note bill color not entirely black, this is a character of the Arizona race | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Aphelocoma |
| Species: | A. wollweberi
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| Binomial name | |
| Aphelocoma wollweberi Kaup, 1855
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| Subspecies | |
|
5, see text | |
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The Mexican jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi) [2] formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a cooperative breeding system where the parents are assisted by other birds to raise their young. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Aphelocoma wollweberi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22724967A94882649. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22724967A94882649.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Etymology: Aphelocoma, from Latinized Ancient Greek apheles- (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin coma (from Greek kome κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. wollweberi, Name: "collector Mr. Wollweber".