page_title: Azure-hooded jay
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Azure-hooded jay / Description
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Blaukappenhäher (Cyanolyca cucullata), Costa Rica English: Azure-hooded Jay (Cyanolyca cucullata), Costa Rica
context_page_description: The azure-hooded jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Middle America. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. This species is known to have four subspecies. It is 11 to 12 inches in length and is dark blue with a black head and upper chest. The back of the head and neck are sky blue with a white border.
  The jays travel in groups of two to ten individuals and may join mixed-species flocks. It is a secretive species and therefore difficult to observe in the wild. As an omnivore, this jay eats berries, seeds, and small, dead animals. Females lay three to four eggs, and the young fledge after twenty days. This species is listed as Least Concern, meaning it is not threatened with extinction.
context_section_description: The azure-hooded jay ranges in length from 11 to 12 inches (28 to 30 cm), and it tends to weigh 35.2 ounces (1,000 g). Its large size and frame help the bird manage the large amount of flying it does. The adult is dark blue with black on the head and upper chest, while the rear of the crown and nape, or back of the neck, are sky blue with a white border. The legs and bill are black and the eyes are dark red. Both sexes are similar in appearance. Juveniles are duller than adults and their sky blue hood does not possess the white bordering.
  Its voice has been described as a loud and bright eihnk-eihnk that is typically repeated four to five times. It is also known to repeat a nasal ehr-ehn or eh’enk noise twice and give off a low, gruff, hard cheh-r. The alarm and flock-social calls of this species, characterized as a reek! sound, are "nasal, querulous, and upwardly or double inflected."
caption: In Costa Rica
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 40D", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.4.7", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:29 15:59:49", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "190", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8278", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7017", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:01:04 09:52:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:01:04 09:52:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "51/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "400", "EXIF SubSecTime": "26", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "26", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "26", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1483", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1892", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3888", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2592", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8130", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "324000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2592000/583", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "d0a490cf6000d42922d680f7ae54fc27"}