Green Jay

About the Green Jay

One of the most dazzling birds in the country - a lime-green body, a blue-and-black head, and flashing yellow outer tail feathers. There is really nothing else like it north of the border, and a first look at one is hard to forget.

Green Jays move through the brush in noisy family groups, keeping up a running commentary of harsh and musical calls. They are omnivores, taking insects, fruit, and seeds, and they readily work feeding stations where the cover is thick.

In the United States the species reaches only the northern edge of its range in deep South Texas, roving the subtropical thorn forest of the Rio Grande Valley year-round. Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Estero Llano Grande, and Santa Ana are among the classic places to find them.

A note from behind the lens: the Valley's feeding stations are the reliable way to work them, but the dappled shade of thorn forest is tricky light. A touch of fill, or waiting for a bird to hop onto a sunlit natural perch, turns those colors from muddy to electric.