Green Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Photo by Scott Martin - Macaulay Library

Blue Jays - brash and flashy...

Green Jays - gaudy and noisy...

Image - Birds of the World

While the Blue Jay is found across southern Canada and in the eastern U.S., The Green Jay is found in Texas, Central America and parts of northern South America only.   A gaudy tropical jay, it is seen  commonly in riverside woods, oak groves, parks, suburbs, and dry brushlands of southern Texas.   They typically show up in small flocks.

Colour-wise, they are unmistakable, being mostly green, paler and yellow below, with purple and black head, and bright yellow outer tail  feathers.

My National Geographic Field Guide says the Green Jay's green and blue plumage blends with dappled sunlight and shade in woodland habitats.

National Geographic goes on to say that Green Jays are resident and locally common  in woodland and brushy areas of the lower Rio Grand Valley and locally further north and south.

Its expanding northern population occurs from southern Texas down through eastern Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, and in a second, narrower band along the Pacific Slope in Mexico.

It South American population extends from northeastern Venezuela west and then south along the Andes Mountains to Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and northwest Bolivia.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder