Cyanolyca cucullata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The azure-hooded jay (Cyanolyca cucullata) is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Middle America. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. This species is known to have four subspecies. It is 11 to 12 inches (28 to 30 cm) in length and is dark blue with a black head and upper chest. The back of the head and neck are sky blue with a white border.
The jays travel in groups of two to ten individuals and may join mixed-species flocks. It is a secretive species and therefore difficult to observe in the wild. As an omnivore, this jay eats berries, seeds, and small, dead animals. Females lay three to four eggs, and the young fledge after twenty days. This species is listed as Least Concern, meaning it is not threatened with extinction.
The species was first described by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway in 1885. Its specific epithet, cucullata, is the Latin word for "hooded". Its closest relative is the beautiful jay (C. pulchra) of Colombia and Ecuador; in his 1934 study, Hellmayr treated these species as conspecific. Phylogenetic analysis published in 2009 confirmed the close relationship between the two species; Bonaccorso... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Azure-hooded Jay sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 1,668 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 412 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Azure-hooded Jay in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in February–April and June–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Azure-hooded Jay sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Azure-hooded Jay sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Cusuco National Park (Honduras, about 10%) and Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%).
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Azure-hooded Jay that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Brown Jay (about 70%) and White-Throated Magpie-Jay (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Azure-hooded Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (1,668 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.
