Unicolored Jay Aphelocoma unicolor Scientific name definitions

The Unicolored Jay is well-named: its plumage is a uniform rich, saturated blue, except for a blackish tinge around the eyes. Similar to other members of Aphelocoma, it is a fairly large, long-tailed, crestless jay. It occupies humid montane evergreen and pine-oak forests from eastern Mexico south to northern Nicaragua. Within this region, however, its distribution is discontinuous, especially in the northern part of the range, with discrete populations in southeastern Mexico, southwestern Mexico (Guerrero), southern Mexico (Oaxaca), and finally a more broadly distributed population south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, from southern Mexico (Chiapas) to Nicaragua. Analysis of DNA sequence data from across the range of the species reveals significant levels of genetic divergence between each of these populations.

Unicolored Jay is omnivorous and largely arboreal, foraging for large insects and small vertebrates in lichens, mosses, and bromeliads, and for fruit and seeds. Despite its relatively wide distribution, Unicolored Jay is rather poorly known. Its biology has been studied in depth at only a single location in southern Mexico, where it is a cooperative breeder and produces a widely varied array of vocalizations.