The
Inca jay (
Cyanocorax yncas) is a bird species of the New World jays, which is native to the Andes of South America. It is widely known as
querrequerre in Spanish, an onomatopoeic name derived from the bird´s call.
Taxonomy: The Inca jay was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1775 in his
Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the
Planches Enluminées D´Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon´s text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon´s description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name
Corvus yncas in his catalogue of the
Planches Enluminées. Buffon´s specimen came from Peru; in 1953 the American ornithologist John Todd Zimmer restricted the type location to Chilpes, Department of Junín. The Inca jay is now one of 17 species placed in the genus
Cyanocorax that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826. The name of the genus is from Ancient Greek
kuanos "dark-blue" and
korakos "raven". The specific epithet
yncas is from the Incas, the inhabitants of Peru in pre-Columbian America.
Five subspecies are accepted:
- C. y. galeatus (Ridgway, 1900) – Found in western Colombia. Similar to C. y. yncas but with a larger crest.
- C. y. cyanodorsalis Dubois, AJC, 1874 – East of the Andes in Colombia and northwest Venezuela. Smaller that C. y. geleatus but with a dark blue crest, white stripe on the forehead, blue crown and neck, dark green back, and darker legs.
- C. y. guatimalensis (Bonaparte, 1850) – Found in mountainous region in northern Venezuela. Similar to C. y. cyandorsalis, but with shorter crest, less blue overall, and thinner white stripe on forehead. Brownish legs and irises.
- C. y. yncas (Boddaert, 1783) – Found in southwestern Columbia to eastern Ecuador and Peru, into central Bolivia. Nominate subspecies.
- C. y. longirostris (Carriker, 1933) – Found along the Marañon Valley in north Peru. Similar to C. y. yncas but larger.
Some ornithologists treat the green jay of North America and the Inca jay as conspecific and with
C. yncas luxuosus as the green jay and
C. yncas yncas as the Inca jay. A 2010 mitochondrial DNA study found that there were clear genetic differences that support them being separate species, although it indicated that further research was required to confirm the findings.
The following cladogram (simplified from the 2010 mitochondrial DNA study) shows the relationship between species in the genus
Cyanocorax.
The Inca jay is in length. The crown can appear mostly white, with blue limited to the frontal crest and nape. A black bib forms a broad band up to the sides of the head as well as a stripe through the eye line and one above it. The breast and underparts typically are bright yellow.
The upper parts are rich green. The color of the iris is bright yellow.
Voice: As with most of the typical jays, this species has a very extensive voice repertoire. The bird´s most common call makes a
sound, but many other unusual notes also occur. One of the most distinctive calls sounds like an alarm bell.
Distribution and habitat: The range extends southwards in the Andes from the Colombia and Venezuela through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Breeding: Inca jays usually build a nest in a tree or a thorny bush or thicket, and the female lays three to five eggs. Only the female incubates, but both parents take care of the young. In Venezuela, they have been observed being victims of nest parasitism by giant cowbirds.
Feeding: Their basic diet consists of arthropods, vertebrates, seeds, and fruit.