Psilorhinus morio
Silhouette: Peileppe · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The brown jay (Cyanocorax morio) is a large jay native to Central America and southern Texas. The brown jay was formerly placed in its own genus Psilorhinus. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Cyanocorax was paraphyletic relative to Psilorhinus, Psilorhinus was subsumed into Cyanocorax to resolve the paraphyly.
Brown jays vary in plumage geographically: there are two main groups. Northern birds are almost completely dark brown, with lighter brown on the underparts. Southern birds are white-bellied and have bright white tips to the outer tail feathers. The intergrade zone is in Veracruz, Mexico. Adults in both populations have black bills, legs, and feet. Immatures have yellow bare parts, including yellow eye-rings.
The voice is a loud but low-pitched pee-ah call and is often modified to suit its situation or mood. The northernmost extent... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Jay sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 10,420 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 412 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March, September and December
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Jay in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 60% in January, April–August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown 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.
7th of 35
Of the 35 parks where we can rate Brown Jay sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 7th at about 70%. The best odds are in Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 90%), Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 70%) and Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Brown Jay that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Azure-hooded Jay (about 10%) 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 Brown Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (10,420 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.
