Inca Jay
© Barry Miller
Published:
May 2, 2011
Barry Miller of Columbia, Maryland, captured this shot of an Inca Jay in Ecuador in October 2009.
Barry and his wife were visiting the
Cabañas San Isidro Andean Cloud Forest Reserve and Lodge. Lights along the entrance to the lodge attract “the largest moths we have ever seen,” he says, “and in the morning the Inca Jays fly in noisily to eat them.” On the day of this photo, Barry spent about an hour following jays as they caught and ate the moths. He used a Canon 50D and a 100-400mm lens.
Inca Jay is found in mountainous regions from Venezuela to Bolivia. The American Ornithologists’ Union lists it as a subspecies of the Green Jay
(Cyanocorax yncas), which occurs from Texas to Honduras. However, the
International Ornithologists’ Union, as well as a recent
South American field guide by Robert S. Ridgely and Guy Tudor, and other authorities consider Inca Jay a distinct species.
See a photo of a Green Jay at a South Texas ranch.
See a pair of Green Jays on a feeder.
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