# Jay

A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian jay than to the East Asian blue and green magpies, whereas the blue jay is not closely related to either. The Eurasian jay distributes oak acorns, contributing to the growth of oak woodlands over time.

## Systematics and species

Jays are not a monophyletic group. Anatomical and molecular evidence indicates they can be divided into a New World and an Old World lineage (the latter including the ground jays and the piapiac), while the grey jays of the genus Perisoreus form a group of their own. The black magpies, formerly believed to be related to jays, are classified as treepies.

### Old World ("brown") jays

| Genus | Living species |
| Garrulus Brisson, 1760 | Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius Lanceolated jay, Garrulus lanceolatus Lidth's jay, Garrulus lidthi |
| Podoces Fischer von Waldheim, 1821 - Ground jays | Mongolian ground jay, Podoces hendersoni Xinjiang ground jay, Podoces biddulphi Pleske's ground jay, Podoces pleskei Turkestan ground jay, Podoces panderi |
| Ptilostomus Swainson, 1837 | Piapiac, Ptilostomus afer |

### Grey jays

| Image | Genus | Living species |
| | Perisoreus Bonaparte, 1831 - Grey jays | Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus Sichuan jay, Perisoreus internigrans Canada jay, gray jay, grey jay, or whiskeyjack Perisoreus canadensis |

### New World jays

| Genus | Living species |
| Aphelocoma Cabanis, 1851 - Scrub-jays | Florida scrub-jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens Island scrub-jay, Aphelocoma insularis California scrub-jay, Aphelocoma californica Woodhouse's scrub-jay, Aphelocoma woodhouseii Transvolcanic jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina Mexican jay, Aphelocoma wollweberi Unicolored jay, Aphelocoma unicolor |
| Gymnorhinus Wied-Neuwied, 1841 | Pinyon jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus |
| Cyanocitta Strickland, 1845 | Steller's jay, Cyanocitta stelleri Blue jay, Cyanocitta cristata |
| Calocitta G.R. Gray, 1841 - Magpie-jays | Black-throated magpie-jay, Calocitta colliei White-throated magpie-jay, Calocitta formosa |
| Cyanocorax F. Boie, 1826 | Tufted jay, Cyanocorax dickeyi Black-chested jay, Cyanocorax affinis Green jay, Cyanocorax ynca Brown jay, Cyanocorax morio Bushy-crested jay, Cyanocorax melanocyaneus San Blas jay, Cyanocorax sanblasianus Yucatan jay, Cyanocorax yucatanicus Purplish-backed jay, Cyanocorax beecheii Purplish jay, Cyanocorax cyanomelas Azure jay, Cyanocorax caeruleus Violaceous jay, Cyanocorax violaceus Curl-crested jay, Cyanocorax cristatellus Azure-naped jay, Cyanocorax heilprini Cayenne jay, Cyanocorax cayanus Plush-crested jay, Cyanocorax chrysops White-naped jay, Cyanocorax cyanopogon White-tailed jay, Cyanocorax mystacalis |
| Cyanolyca Cabanis, 1851 | Black-collared jay, Cyanolyca armillata Turquoise jay, Cyanolyca turcosa White-collared jay, Cyanolyca viridicyana Azure-hooded jay, Cyanolyca cucullata Beautiful jay, Cyanolyca pulchra Black-throated jay, Cyanolyca pumilo Dwarf jay, Cyanolyca nana Silvery-throated jay, Cyanolyca argentigula White-throated jay, Cyanolyca mirabilis |

## In culture
### Slang

The word jay has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently.
The term jaywalking was coined in the first decade of the 1900s 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.
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.