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A Eurasian jay in flight

Jay

Jays are strikingly coloured members of the crow family, found throughout England and Wales. During spring, gatherings of jays, known as ‘crow marriages’, take place in which individuals search for a mate. Jays' have a penchant for acorns, which they cache throughout autumn and revisit during harder times. A single bird buries several thousand nutritious nuggets each year, playing a crucial role in the spread of oak woodlands. When threatened by hawks, the usually shy jays mob their attackers, mimicking the hawk's call as an alarm.

All you need to know about British birds.

Scientific name: Garrulus glandarius

Rank: Species

Common names:

Eurasian jay

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Jay taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Jay can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, China, Europe, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Jay distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian Subcontinent and further to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia. Across its vast range, several very distinct racial forms have evolved to look very different from each other, especially when forms at the extremes of its range are compared.

The bird is called jay, without any epithets, by English speakers in Great Britain and Ireland. It is the original 'jay' after which all others are named.

Read more at Wikipedia

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