{{Short description|Bird}} {{redirect2|Jays|Jay (bird)|the baseball team|Toronto Blue Jays||Jay (disambiguation)|and|Jay bird (disambiguation)}} {{Paraphyletic group | 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.<ref name="Ericson">{{cite journal|last1=Ericson|first1=Per G. P.|last2=Jansén|first2=Anna-Lee|last3=Johansson|first3=Ulf S.|last4=Ekman|first4=Jan|title=Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data|journal=Journal of Avian Biology|date=May 2005|volume=36|issue=3|pages=222–234|doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x|bibcode=2005JAvBi..36..222E |citeseerx=10.1.1.493.5531}}http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810020048/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf |date=2017-08-10 }} PDF fulltext</ref> The black magpies, formerly believed to be related to jays, are classified as treepies.
===Old World ("brown") jays=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |175px||'''''Garrulus''''' {{small|Brisson, 1760}} - 'typical' jays|| * Eurasian jay, ''Garrulus glandarius'' * Lanceolated jay, ''Garrulus lanceolatus'' * Lidth's jay, ''Garrulus lidthi'' |- |175px||'''''Podoces''''' {{small|Fischer von Waldheim, 1821}} - Ground jays|| * Mongolian ground jay, ''Podoces hendersoni'' * Xinjiang ground jay, ''Podoces biddulphi'' * Pleske's ground jay, ''Podoces pleskei'' * Turkestan ground jay, ''Podoces panderi'' |- |}
===Grey jays=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |175px||'''''Perisoreus''''' {{small|Bonaparte, 1831}} - Grey jays|| * Siberian jay, ''Perisoreus infaustus'' * Sichuan jay, ''Perisoreus internigrans'' * Canada jay (formerly grey or gray jay), ''Perisoreus canadensis'' |- |}
===New World jays=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |175px||'''''Aphelocoma''''' {{small|Cabanis, 1851}} - Scrub-jays|| * Florida scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma coerulescens'' * Island scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma insularis'' * California scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma californica'' * Woodhouse's scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma woodhouseii'' * Transvolcanic jay, ''Aphelocoma ultramarina'' * Mexican jay, ''Aphelocoma wollweberi'' * Unicolored jay, ''Aphelocoma unicolor'' |- |175px||'''''Gymnorhinus''''' {{small|Wied-Neuwied, 1841}}|| * Pinyon jay, ''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'' |- |175px||'''''Cyanocitta''''' {{small|Strickland, 1845}}|| * Steller's jay, ''Cyanocitta stelleri'' * Blue jay, ''Cyanocitta cristata'' |- |175px||'''''Cyanocorax''''' {{small|F. Boie, 1826}}|| * Tufted jay, ''Cyanocorax dickeyi'' * Black-chested jay, ''Cyanocorax affinis'' * Green jay, ''Cyanocorax luxuosus'' * Inca jay, ''Cyanocorax yncas'' * Brown jay, ''Cyanocorax morio'' * Bushy-crested jay, ''Cyanocorax melanocyaneus'' * San Blas jay, ''Cyanocorax sanblasianus'' * Yucatan jay, ''Cyanocorax yucatanicus'' * Purplish-backed jay, ''Cyanocorax beecheii'' * Purplish jay, ''Cyanocorax cyanomelas'' * Azure jay, ''Cyanocorax coeruleus'' * Violaceous jay, ''Cyanocorax violaceus'' * Curl-crested jay, ''Cyanocorax cristatellus'' * Azure-naped jay, ''Cyanocorax heilprini'' * Cayenne jay, ''Cyanocorax cayanus'' * Plush-crested jay, ''Cyanocorax chrysops'' * White-naped jay, ''Cyanocorax cyanopogon'' * White-tailed jay, ''Cyanocorax mystacalis'' * Black-throated magpie-jay, ''Cyanocorax colliei'' * White-throated magpie-jay, ''Cyanocorax formosus'' |- |175px||'''''Cyanolyca''''' {{small|Cabanis, 1851}}|| * Black-collared jay, ''Cyanolyca armillata'' * Turquoise jay, ''Cyanolyca turcosa'' * White-collared jay, ''Cyanolyca viridicyana'' * Azure-hooded jay, ''Cyanolyca cucullata'' * Beautiful jay, ''Cyanolyca pulchra'' * Black-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca pumilo'' * Dwarf jay, ''Cyanolyca nana'' * Silvery-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca argentigula'' * White-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca mirabilis'' |- |}
==In culture==
===Slang=== The word ''jay'' has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently.<ref name=Jay20132>{{cite web| title = Jay | quote = An overly talkative person; a chatterbox.| publisher = freedictionary.com| url = http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Jay}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jay|title=Definition of Jay by Merriam-Webster|date=26 October 2024 |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc.}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jaywalker|title=Definition of Jaywalker by Merriam-Webster|date=28 August 2024 |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc.}}</ref> The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established.<ref>{{OED|jay-walker}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Writer lobbies for new word to describe jays|url=http://www.vancourier.com/Writer-lobbies-for-new-word-to-describe-jays-1.776734/|access-date=2 January 2014|newspaper=Vancouver Courier|date=2 January 2014|archive-date=4 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104041629/http://www.vancourier.com/writer-lobbies-for-new-word-to-describe-jays-1.776734|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=British Ornithologists' Union: What say ye countrymen to a jabber of jays?|url=https://www.bou.org.uk/what-say-ye-countrymen-to-a-jabber-of-jays/#comments/|access-date=6 January 2014|journal=Community News|date=6 January 2014}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Cite web|url=https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?mediaType=video&taxonCode=blujay|title=Blue Jay - ''Cyanocitta cristata'' videos|website=The Internet Bird Collection + The Macaulay Library}} *{{Wikisource-inline|list= **{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Jay |short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Jays |short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Jay |short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite EB1911 |last=Newton |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Newton |wstitle=Jay |short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Jay|year=1905 |short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite EB9 |last=Newton |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Newton |wstitle=Jay |volume=13 |short=x |noicon=x}} }}
{{Corvidae}}
Category:Corvidae Category:Bird common names