Cyanolyca cucullata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Azure-hooded Jay sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 391st most-seen of the 467 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Azure-hooded Jay in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
7th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Azure-hooded Jay sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 10%), Cusuco National Park (Honduras, about 10%) and Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Azure-hooded Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (41 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.
