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Project Noah Nature School
Calocitta colliei
This species is 58.5 to 76.5 cm (23 to 30 inches) long, more than half of which is the tail, and weight is 225-251 grams (8-9 oz.).[2] Only the Red-billed Blue Magpie and the White-throated Magpie-Jay have a comparable tail length among corvids. The upperparts are blue with white tips to the tail feathers; the underparts are white. The bill, legs, head, and conspicuous crest are black except for a pale blue crescent over the eyes and a patch under the eye. In juveniles, the crest has a white tip and the patch below the eye is smaller and darker blue than in adults. In most birds, the throat and chest are also black, but some in the southern part of the range have various amounts of white there.[3] The calls are varied, loud, raucous, sometimes parrot-like.[3]
This species occurs in pairs or small groups in woodland, except for humid woodland, and partially open areas on the Pacific Slope of Mexico from southern Sonora south to Jalisco and northwestern Colima,[3] for a total of 160,000 km2. As of 1993 there was some evidence of a population decline.[
Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Spotted on Oct 15, 2011
Submitted on Nov 17, 2011
7 Comments
So cute bird
Laura --I'm not sure, I got there late, there was a presentation but all I had time was to take the pictures. I will ask next time!
The strap on his leg looks like the jesses usually put on birds of prey used in falconry. Was this guy part of a demonstration at the zoo? I'm really curious because I used to work at a birds of prey centre and helped them fly their falcons... but I didn't know you could train birds like jays to fly like this either! Beautiful bird either way :)
Alice....of course...I saw it at the Central Florida Zoo. :)
The bracelet I think is for tracking.
This bird is not from Florida, can you please tell us where you saw it? Perhaps in a Zoo?
What's the little bracelet on his leg?