The Story
I photographed this Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) near Pajarito, in southeastern Boyacá, Colombia, at about 1,460 meters. In Spanish it is widely called querrequerre, a name that imitates its call. Its most common call is a harsh rassh-rassh-rassh, with many other unusual notes. In the Andes its range runs south from Colombia and Venezuela through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. In eBird it is the Green Jay, while some references call the South American birds Inca Jay. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Pajarito lies in southeastern Boyacá on the border with Casanare, and its town center sits in a narrow valley at about 800 meters.
©2021 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