Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) - BirdLife species factsheet

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	12,000,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	9,520,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	stable	-	estimated	-
Generation length	6.8 years	-	-	-

Trend justification: This species has had stable population trends over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Canada	extant	native			yes
Mexico	extant	native
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	native		yes	yes
USA	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Boreal	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	non-breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-jay-cyanocitta-cristata on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.