| Cyanolyca | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cyanolyca turcosa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Subfamily: | Cyanocoracinae |
| Genus: | Cyanolyca Cabanis, 1851 |
| Type species | |
| Cyanocorax armillatus1 Gray, 1845
| |
| Species | |
|
9, see text | |
Cyanolyca is a genus of small jays found in humid highland forests in southern Mexico, Central America and the Andes in South America. All are largely blue and have a black mask. They also possess black bills and legs and are skulking birds. They frequently join mixed-species flocks of birds.2
Taxonomy
The genus Cyanolyca was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.3 The genus name combines the Ancient Greek κυανος/ kuanos meaning "dark-blue" with λυκος/lukos, a type of crow, perhaps the jackdaw, that was mentioned by Aristotle and Hesychius of Alexandria.4 Cabanis did not specify a type species but in 1855 George Gray designated the type as Cyanocorax armillatus Gray, 1845, the black-collared jay.56
Species
The genus contains nine species.7
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| White-throated jay | Cyanolyca mirabilis | 
| |
 |
Dwarf jay | Cyanolyca nanus | 
|
 |
Black-throated jay | Cyanolyca pumilo | 
|
 |
Silvery-throated jay | Cyanolyca argentigula | 
|
 |
Azure-hooded jay | Cyanolyca cucullata | 
|
 |
Beautiful jay | Cyanolyca pulchra | 
|
 |
Black-collared jay | Cyanolyca armillata | 
|
 |
Turquoise jay | Cyanolyca turcosa | 
|
 |
White-collared jay | Cyanolyca viridicyanus | 
|
References
References
- "Corvidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- Howell, Steve N.G.; Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 541–542. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
- Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 223. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
- Jobling, James A. "Cyanolyca". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 62.
- Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 20 March 2026.