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Magpie-Jay Flocks Are Led by Females
Striking blue-and-white birds that raise babies cooperatively.
© Hans Hillewaert
Found in much of Central America, White-throated Magpie-Jay flocks are family groups led by a dominant female. They include a mate and several female offspring that bring food to the primary female and her young. It’s an example of cooperative breeding, when birds other than the parents help out to raise young.
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BirdNote®
Magpie-Jays Flocks Are Led by Females
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
A flock of jays is emerging at the forest edge. Their heads are blue and white, with a long, black crest curling forward.
[White-throated Magpie-Jay calls]
As they glide out from the trees, the whole bird becomes visible — white bellies and blue backs. Their spectacular tails are about as long as the rest of their bodies.
[White-throated Magpie-Jay calls]
They’re called White-throated Magpie-Jays, named for the long tail reminiscent of a magpie’s. Found in much of Central America, White-throated Magpie-Jay flocks are family groups led by a dominant female. They include a mate and several female offspring that bring food to the primary female and her young. It’s an example of cooperative breeding, when birds other than the parents help out to raise young.
[White-throated Magpie-Jay calls]
Magpie-Jays have an astonishing vocal system. Male magpie-jays are the big talkers—each one may use more than sixty vocalizations.
[A few different White-throated Magpie-Jay vocalizations]
Nearly fifty species of jays are found around the world. Each distinctive, each with its own complex society.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Support comes from Wild Delight Bird Food, offering a variety of blends designed to mimic the natural resources wild birds crave, available at Chewy.com.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. White-throated Magpie-Jay ML164041 recorded by David L. Ross, Jr., and White-throated Magpie-Jay ML103278 recorded by Matthew D. Medler.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote July 2023/February 2026
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# WTMJAY-01-2023-07-26 WTMJAY-01
Reference:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23766808.2017.1296751
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/wtmjay1/cur/introduction
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
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