Result of climate change?
Reports are appearing that in late 2025, scientists announced the discovery of the first known wild "Grue Jay", a hybrid of a Blue Jay and a Green Jay, spotted near San Antonio, Texas, showing characteristics of both parents, like blue feathers and a dark facial mask, and believed to be a rare result of climate change pushing these species' ranges to overlap, creating a unique cross-species mating.
Green Jay
Parents: A male Blue Jay and a female Green Jay
Appearance: A dilute blue colour with white-tipped wing/tail feathers from the Blue Jay and a dark mask from the Green Jay.
Discovery: First reported in 2023 by a resident near San Antonio, then studied by University of Texas researchers.
Significance: It's considered the first observed vertebrate hybrid resulting from climate-change-induced range shifts, as their territories don't overlap historically.
Name: Researchers are debating names like "Grue Jay" and "Grrew Jay", reflecting its hybrid nature.
Blue Jays are normally found across lower Canada and throughout the United States.
Green Jays have two main disconnected ranges: one from southern Texas through Mexico into Central America (Honduras), and another much larger one in South America's Andes Mountains, from Columbia, down through Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
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BarrytheBirder
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