Class Aves | Phylum Chordata Order Passeriformes | |
Representative species Blue jay, Eurasian jay, Steller's jay, California scrub jay, Florida scrub jay | ||
Jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family, Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian jay than to the Oriental blue and green magpies, whereas the blue jay is not closely related to either.
Contents
- Blue jay birds singing in the forest
- Systematics and species
- Old World brown jays
- Grey jays
- American jays
- Slang
- References
Blue jay birds singing in the forest
Systematics and species
See classification box for relevant genera links. Traditionally, the crested jay (Platylophus galericulatus) is placed here, but apparently this is not correct, as suggested by anatomical and molecular evidence. Its placement remains unresolved; it does not seem to be a corvid at all. According to Ericson et al. (2005), jays are not a monophyletic group. Rather, they can be divided into an American and an Old World lineage (the latter including the ground jays and the piapiac), while the gray jays of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. The black magpie, formerly believed to be related to jays, is classified as a treepie.
Old World ("brown") jays
Grey jays
American jays
Slang
The word jay has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently. The word also means a foolish or gullible person.
The term jaywalking was coined in 1915 to label persons crossing a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard. The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established. ("jay-walker". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)).
In January 2014, Canadian author Robert Joseph Greene embarked on a lobbying campaign among ornithologists in Europe and North America to get Merriam-Websters Dictionary to have a "Jabber of Jays" as an official term under bird groups.