The Story
I photographed this Violaceous Jay (Cyanocorax violaceus) at the Mirador Turístico Don Yo, on the old road from Villavicencio to Bogotá, Colombia, in January 2020. It is mainly a bird of the western Amazon Basin and is often most numerous along watercourses. It eats fruit, arthropods and eggs, and it has been seen eating lizards. It forages in flocks of up to about a dozen birds, mostly in the forest canopy. Its typical call is a downward Jeeeer given several times. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. Villavicencio, the capital of Meta, was founded on April 6, 1840, and is the most important commercial center of the Llanos Orientales.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Violaceous Jay (Cyanocorax violaceus) belongs to the family Corvidae (Crows, Jays, and Magpies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List