Mexican Jay Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A large songbird with a robust body, long tail, short neck, heavy, pointed bill, and long, strong legs and feet.

  Relative Size

  Slightly larger than a Blue Jay, smaller than an American Crow.

  between robin and crow

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 11.4 in (29 cm)
    • Weight: 4.2-4.8 oz (120-135 g)

• Color Pattern

  Adult is cerulean blue above, dingy below, with brown-gray back, dark eye, and dark bill. Juvenile is similar but plumage mostly darker gray; bill has irregular pale base.

• Behavior

  Groups of Mexican Jays hop and fly through trees in search of insects and small vertebrates such as lizards. They also forage on the ground, eating acorns, pine nuts, and various invertebrates. Resides year-round in groups (up to 25 birds).

• Habitat

  Lives year-round in pine-oak-juniper woodlands of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, from the upper edge of deserts to high mountain ridges up to 11,000 feet.