The Story
This Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) was at Ukuku Rural Lodge in Juntas, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. It is a New World jay native to the Andes of South America. Only the female incubates, but both parents care for the young. Its most common call is a rassh-rassh-rassh, but it makes many other unusual notes too. It eats arthropods, small vertebrates, seeds and fruit. Juntas is a rural district of Ibagué in the Combeima Canyon, a buffer zone of Los Nevados National Natural Park where more than 300 bird species have been recorded.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400. IUCN lists the Green Jay as Least Concern, with an increasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) 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 2025), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List