The Story
I photographed this Black-chested Jay (Cyanocorax affinis) at Urapanes del Bosque in Cajamarca, Tolima, Colombia, at about 2,030 meters, in October 2020. It is easy to recognize by its facial pattern and yellow eye. Its head, face and chest are mostly black, and its underparts and the tip of its tail are white. It lives in tropical and subtropical dry and moist forests and in heavily degraded former forest, in Colombia, northwestern Venezuela, Panama and far eastern Costa Rica. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/125 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800. ProAves protects the Yellow-eared Parrot and the wax palm in its Reserva ProAves Loro Fuertesi in Cajamarca, and each Palm Sunday it takes its conservation campaign to Cajamarca and Roncesvalles.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-chested Jay (Cyanocorax affinis) 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 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List