Cynocorax yncas | Green Jay, Inca Jay

In the wild: 10 to 11 years
In human care: Up to 11+ years

In the wild: A wide variety of insects and seeds in the wild, with other foods such as meat and fruit being eaten opportunistically. 
At the Zoo: Mazuri® Small Bird Diet, Mazuri Insectivore Diet, fruit, pinkie mice, and insects. 

Prefer dense woodlands with continuous canopy cover.

In North and Central America. Green jays live in southern Texas (USA) and range through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Mirrors, puzzle feeders, small plastic/paper items that they can carry around and smack against things, and foraging for insects.

• Kingdom: Animalia 
• Phylum: Chordata 
• Class: Aves 
• Order: Psittaciformes 
• Family: Cacatuidae 
• Genus: Cacatua 
• Species: Cacatua moluccensis 

In the Rainforest Area, behind the Cotton-top Tamarin, red-footed tortoises, and Elton the Two-toed sloth. Next time you're in the Rainforest Area, look up and listen in. Colby and Cheddar may be hard to spot in the leaves, but once you hear their chatty calls, you’ll know you’re close. These flashy feathered geniuses are impossible not to love!

With their bold colors and even bolder personalities, Colby and Cheddar are our Green Jays—and they are every bit as clever and charismatic as they look! These striking birds are part of the corvid family, which includes crows, magpies, and jays—some of the smartest birds on the planet.

Though they may look like large birds in photos, Green Jays are actually only about 11 inches long, closer in size to a mockingbird than a crow. But make no mistake—these birds pack a lot of personality into a small frame!

Where in the World?

Green Jays are found in two separate populations that are only about 900 miles apart:

• North & Central America: Southern Texas, Mexico, and into parts of Central America like Guatemala and Nicaragua.
• South America: Northern Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Despite their similarities, these populations are surprisingly different! For example, South American Green Jays are larger and have a distinct crest above their eyes. Their behaviors vary too (more on that below!).

Rainforest Roommates

Colby and Cheddar live in our Rainforest Area, just behind the Cotton-top Tamarins, red-footed tortoises, and Elton the two-toed sloth. Green Jays prefer dense woodlands with continuous canopy cover, where their loud voices help them stay in touch with their flock mates.

Yes—we said loud! Green Jays are known for their astonishing vocal abilities. Their calls can reach volumes comparable to a jackhammer (around 100 decibels), and they’re incredible mimics, capable of imitating everything from hawk calls to cell phone ringtones to road noise. In Texas, they’ve been known to fake hawk calls to scare off other birds and reduce competition for food. Smart and sneaky!

Omnivorous Opportunists

In the wild, Green Jays enjoy an omnivorous diet, meaning they eat both meat and plants. This includes insects, seeds, fruit, and even small animals like frogs or baby birds. At the zoo, Colby and Cheddar dine on Mazuri Small Bird and Insectivore Diets, plus fruit, insects, and pinkie mice, to mimic their natural foraging habits.

They’re also known to use tools, like sticks, to pry off bark and get hidden bugs—yet another sign of their impressive intelligence.

A Tale of Two Behaviors

Green Jays are monogamous, which means that they keep the same breeding partner throughout their lifetime. During breeding season pairs choose and build their nests together, though only the female incubates the eggs. But how the rest of the family helps out depends on where they live:

• Texas Populations:
  • Nestlings from the previous year help defend territory but not raise chicks.
  • Once new chicks are fledged, the older siblings are kicked out of the flock.
  • The male feeds the incubating female solo.
• Colombian Populations:
  • Family members stay year-round in what’s called cooperative breeding.
  • Cooperative breeding is when the entire flock helps feed the incubating female and raise the chicks, even after they leave the nest—sometimes up to 20 days post-fledging.
  • This behavior likely evolved because food is scarcer in those regions—teamwork = better survival!

Bright Feathers, Big Energy

Green Jays aren’t just smart—they’re resilient. One of our jays, despite having a fully amputated leg, gets around their habitat with ease. Watching them hop, forage, and navigate with such agility is a powerful reminder of how adaptable wildlife can be.

Green Jay Fast Facts:

• Standing out in the crowd: Not all Green Jays look alike—South American birds are larger and crested!
• Size: Only about 11 inches long smaller than they appear in photos.
• Amazing mimics: Can mimic phones, radios, hawks, and more.
• Tool usage: Use tools like sticks to hunt insects.
• Texas vs. Colombia: Texas jays defend territory, Colombian jays help raise babies.
• Resilience: One of ours has one leg—and gets around like a champ!