The tufted jay, also known as the painted jay and Dickey's jay, is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is endemic to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. A large jay, it has a prominent dark crest on its head; a purplish-blue back, wings, and face; a white spot above the eye and on the cheek; white undersides; and a partially white tail. Its typical call is a quick, four-note vocalization. The relationship between the tufted jay and other members of the genus Cyanocorax has been a subject of interest since the species was first described in 1935. Because of the visual similarities between the tufted jay and the white-tailed jay, the two were thought by some to be closely related. A 2010 mitochondrial-DNA study has shown that the tufted jay is most closely related to a group of South American jays, despite their ranges being separated by more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). They are likely descended from an ancestral jay that ranged throughout Latin America. (Full article...)
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