YUCATAN JAYS

I can't think of a single country I've been in where there wasn't some kind of jay-bird with a flashy appearance, remarkable curiosity, very loud mouth, and outlandish behavior. Mother Nature clearly is of the opinion that an ecosystem isn't complete unless there's a boisterous clown in the neighborhood.

Well, here that attention-getting jay is the Yucatan Jay, CYANOCORAX YUCATANICUS, in some fieldguides designated as a subspecies of the more generally distributed Black-and-blue Jay. Yucatan Jays are fair- sized birds with black heads and chests, with the rest of the body dark blue, except for yellowish legs, and young birds have very conspicuous, bright-yellow bills.

The birds fly about in noisily chattering flocks of a dozen or more. One reason the flocks are so large is that young birds remain with their parents, helping take care of their even younger siblings. It shouldn't be surprising to find any species of jay displaying a more-complex-than-normal social structure. Jays belong to the same bird family as crows and magpies, and most birders agree that these are among the most highly evolved and intelligent of all birds.

Still, many mornings I see one of their behaviors that surprises me. At dawn, right outside my porch, usually there are a couple of horses grazing, just waiting for me to feed them my banana peelings. There's a white horse and a dark brown one, and the brown one very often has six to twelve Yucatan Jays riding him. Sometimes a jay descends the horse's tail looking for whatever might be suspended in the long hairs. Sometimes a couple of jays sit for a long time just watching the horse's tail-hole. I suspect that any tick climbing onto this horse is quickly devoured by a jay.

Most of the jays riding the brown horse appear to be enjoying the trip. They perch in a line along the horse's spine, looking around, squawking, preening and billing their neighbors.

You can see a young Yucatan Jay with its yellow bill at www.birdseen.co.uk/mexico/yucjay.htm.