Cyanocorax yucatanicus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Yucatan jay (Cyanocorax yucatanicus) is a species of bird in the family Corvidae, the crows and their allies. It is native to the Yucatán Peninsula where its habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, plantations and cleared areas at altitudes up to 250 m (820 ft). Adults are about 30 cm (12 in) long, black, with blue wings, mantle, and tail, black bills, yellow eye rings and legs. Immature birds have yellow bills. This is a common species of jay with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The Yucatan jay was first described by the naturalist Alphonse Dubois in 1875. It originally places in the genus Cyanocitta, and was given the scientific name Cyanocitta yucatanica. It is now placed by the genus Cyanocorax, which was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826, as Cyanocorax yucatanicus. In 1934, ornithologist Carl Eduard Hellmayr reorganized the genus Cyanocorax and split it into four subgenera. The Yucatan jay was placed into the subgenus Cissilopha as Cissilopha yucatanica. This is now considered a synonym for the Yucatan jay.
When Hellmayr created... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Tikal National Park | 🇬🇹 Guatemala |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Papiliorama | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 3 | Sobela Ocean Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yucatán Jay sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 113 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 216 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yucatán Jay in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, June and October, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yucatán 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.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Yucatán Jay sightings, Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 60%) and Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yucatán Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (113 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.
