Aphelocoma wollweberi
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The Mexican jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi) formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a cooperative breeding system where the parents are assisted by other birds to raise their young. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
A recent decision by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list Committee elevated some populations of the Mexican jay to a separate species, called the Transvolcanic jay (A. ultramarina), based on diagnosable phenotypic... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Jay sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 4,201 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 270 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Jay in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against about 30% in January and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mexican Jay sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Mexican Jay sightings, Big Bend National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (Mexico, about 40%) and Saguaro National Park (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mexican Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Big Bend National Park (4,201 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
