Violaceous jay

Appearance

This is a medium-large jay with dull violet-blue plumage and a striking dark face and throat. The purplish jay is duller and the nape is not paler than the back. In eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, the azure-naped jay is distinguished by its pale iris, white undertail coverts and tip to the tail, paler nape, and short frontal crest. The violaceous jay is 33–38 cm long and weighs 262 grams

Distribution

The range of the violaceous jay is the southwest and northwest Amazon Basin, from northern Bolivia, through Amazonian eastern Peru and Ecuador, Amazonian Colombia, and the Orinoco River Basin and beyond into northern Venezuela. The range is east of the Andes cordillera, except in the north in Colombia and Venezuela. In southwest Guyana, , the range borders Roraima state, Brazil and the Amazon River, , tributary, the south-flowing Branco River of central Roraima.

In Brazil's western Amazon Basin, the violaceous jay is found in Roraima, Amazonas, and Acre state, the west of North Region, Brazil.

Behavior

The violaceous jay is omnivorous, mainly consuming fruits, insects, and bird and reptile eggs. It is also known to take small lizards as well.

Little is known in any detail about the violaceous jay's life history. Violaceous jays in Venezuela forage chiefly in the middle and upper canopy in a mature tropical evergreen rainforest. They take food items by hopping along limbs and gleaning for prey. It forages in flocks in forest canopy, and rarely lingers in one spot for long. These flocks often are noisy, but like other jays, the violaceous jay can be quiet and inconspicuous at times. They are known to frequently mob potential predators.