Magpie-jay

The magpie-jays are a genus, Calocitta, of the family Corvidae (crow-like birds) native to the southern part of North America. Sometimes placed in the genus Cyanocorax. The two known species are known to form hybrids.

Magpie-jays
White-throated magpie-jay, Calocitta formosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Calocitta
G.R. Gray, 1841
Type species
Pica formosa
Swainson, 1827
Species
  • Calocitta colliei
  • Calocitta formosa

The genus was introduced in 1841 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray with the white-throated magpie-jay (Calocitta formosa) as the type species.[1][2] The name Calocitta combines the Ancient Greek kalos meaning "beautiful" and kitta meaning "jay".[3]

Species

The genus contains two species.[4]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Calocitta collieiBlack-throated magpie-jayMexico from southern Sonora south to Jalisco and northwestern Colima
Calocitta formosaWhite-throated magpie-jaySouth eastern Mexico, western Guatemala, and Costa Rica

References

  1. Gray, George Robert (1841). A List of the Genera of Birds : with their Synonyma and an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus (2nd ed.). London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 50.
  2. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 228.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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