Black-throated Magpie-Jay

Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei

Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei. Photograph taken within the greater Puerta Vallarta area, Guerrero, March 2014. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei. Photographs taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, December 2017. Photographs and identifications courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Background and Identification

The Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei, is a member of the Corvidae Family of Crows, Jays, and Magpies, which has one hundred twenty-eight members placed in twenty-three genera, and of the two global species of the Calocitta Genus. They forage at the tops of trees or in bushes with mixed-species feeding on invertebrates and seasonal berries and fruits. The Black-throated Magpie-Jay has been poorly studied and limited information about their behavioral patterns and biology has been documented. They are known in Mexico as Urraca Hermosa Carinegra.

The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is mid-sized in stature, with bodies averaging 58 cm (23 inches) to 77 cm (2 feet 6 inches) long and average masses of 225 g (8.0 oz)  to 251 g (8.8 oz). The sexes are similar, but the females’ shorter tail length gives them a lesser average mass. They have an all-black face and throat with blue patches above and below the eyes. They have an exceptionally long graduated tail (up to 8.0 cm long!) with bright cobalt-blue feathers. The tail’s outer feathers have a wide white margin on their tips. Forehead feathers are black and tipped in blue or white. They have a large cobalt-blue malar patch, bordered at the base by a narrow white band; their nape and hindneck are cobalt-blue and heavily washed in white; their upperparts are cobalt-blue; and, their upper wing is a bright cobalt. The bill and legs are black and the iris of the eye is deep brown.

Habitat and Geographical Range

The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is found in the lowlands and foothills in arid bush country, thorn forests, deciduous open woodland, and riparian forests at elevations below 1,800 m (5,900 feet). They are nonmigratory, resident birds of the geographical range they inhabit.

The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is ENDEMIC to Mexico. They inhabit northwest Mexico within the Pacific Slope in the States of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán. There are also feral resident populations in Baja California and Baja California Sur.

Common Misidentifications

The Black-throated Magpie-Jay is similar to the White-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta formosa. The White-throated Magpie-Jay, as the name suggests, has a white throat and chest, differing from the black throat of the Black-throated Magpie-Jay. Additionally, the White-throated Magpie-Jay has a more extensive white area on the face and lacks the distinctive black crest. The two species are known to hybridize, making identification more difficult in some circumstances.

Conservation Status

From a conservation perspective the Black-throated Magpie-Jay is currently conidered t o be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Although their population is considered stable, habitat destruction and fragmentation pose ongoing threats to their numbers. The expansion of agriculture, logging, and urban development can reduce the availability of suitable habitats for these birds.